It Was You
by MaRsKiLLeRs
Summary: Hermione is going out with Seamus, and seemingly happy. However, things change when she finds him one night, drunk, and he gets violent. She feels as if she cannot talk to any of her friends about it. But what about Malfoy? DMHG!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.**

**A/N: This fic is set at the beginning of the 6****th**** year at Hogwarts. Dumbledore is therefore still alive, Snape is Defense against the Dark Arts teacher and Slughorn potions teacher, and the situation with Draco as a Death Eater is slightly different and not in the foreground in this story. Apologies to those who mind.  
**

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**Chapter One**

There she was again, smiling like an idiot with him, her close friend.

Malfoy refused to call him her boyfriend. For no reason, of course. A Malfoy didn't need to have a reason anyway, and so he didn't.

Finnigan, putting his arm around the mudblood's shoulders, smiled as well. Draco snorted and continued walking on, letting the rain soak his silver blonde hair.

What did it matter to him, seeing them sitting on the stone bench like every day since the beginning of the year, shielded from the drops that constantly fell from the sky, showing off their relationship? Exactly. It didn't.

Maybe a bit. But only because he didn't meet her on the corridors so often anymore, unable to throw an insult at her then. Good thing she was a Prefect too then.

He frowned as these thoughts crossed his mind. What the hell was wrong with him? He shrugged and decided not to bother. It wasn't as if he was the only one who had noticed how much the mudblood had changed during the summer. Not that she was anything more just because of a few curves, but he was still a guy.

Walking through the corridors, he made a few biting remarks against a bunch of young Gryffindors, making use of his role as Prefect.

This really was going to be a fun year. Since he had left the train, he hadn't stopped telling off Gryffindors without them being able to complain.

He smiled smugly while entering the common room and passing his hand through his hair, knowing that Pansy was already there, waiting for him.

How idiotic could anyone get? So much for a fun year. It seemed like the girl had no self-esteem whatsoever. Honestly, how obvious could he still make it to show her that he had no interest in her or anything related to her?

True, he did have some fun with her, but that didn't mean anything, did it? 'Girls…' he thought.

But there she was, sitting at their usual desk, obviously waiting for someone: him. She beamed and went over to greet him.

"Oh Draco, didn't I tell you that you shouldn't be walking in the rain like that? You could catch a cold, or worse! Come here and let me warm you up a little…"

She invitingly came closer and pulled him towards a couch close to the fire, putting her arms around his slender waist and her head on his shoulders.

He sighed and, slowly took her hands to free himself from her grip. He didn't even have anything against her holding him like that, but he didn't feel like it this evening.

"Just don't" he said, almost roughly, and leaned back against the cushions. She gave him a look and pouted, but he just decided to ignore her and stared into the flames.

"Fine then, I'm going to bed" she said, staring intently into his eyes that were still fixated on the dancing fire, almost pleading.

He nodded absent-mindedly, a tiny part of his consciousness understanding the meaning behind her words and the fact that she either wanted him to follow her or to hold her back.

Whatever it was she wanted, he didn't even consider doing either for a second and just went on staring, his mind empty, and so, she left.

'I bet that she hates the rain' he suddenly thought, remembering how they had sat there under the a covered area where they could have watched other people getting soaked, or couples running through the rain, hand in hand. But not a single drop had reached her.

With that image, he drifted off to sleep, his head leaning against the green head rest, knowing that he was going to be late for his prefect watch through the corridors of the castle.

"Please stay a bit longer". Seamus' low voice whispered into her ear. She giggled, but then slowly got up from the armchair of the Gryffindor common room they had been sitting in for a while.

Ron hadn't stopped throwing them glances while Lavender desperately tried to get his attention back on her.

Seamus and Hermione. Nobody would have thought that the two of them could ever suit the other, but it seemed to be working out just fine. Better than just fine, for that matter.

They barely left each other's side, except for when they had separate classes or when she had to do her duty as a Prefect, or other little occasions.

He stood up and gently put his arm around her waist, holding her close.

"Do you really _have_ to go?" he asked pleadingly.

Gently taking his fingers one by one into her hand, she freed herself from him and turned to face him.

"You know I'll be back. Soon" she promised.

He gave her one last kiss, which made younger Gryffindors turn away or giggle and girls from their age sigh dreamily.

She smiled to herself. She knew that no one had expected her to be like that, and she might even be the one who was the most surprised.

They had been together for a few months now, starting from shortly before the summer holidays. She had seen him almost every day then, spending less time with her friends, but it seemed that they understood pretty well, especially Harry.

Ron, on the other hand, was rather difficult. Hermione decided not to think about him, him and Lavender.

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. Couldn't he just stop being so sarcastic whenever they were together?

"You should better go now" Seamus said after a few moments she had just been standing there, staring.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" she asked teasingly.

"Who knows?" He winked at her. "Besides, the sooner you leave, the sooner you'll be back."

He tried to kiss her again, but she shrieked as she looked at the time, and ran towards the painting. She was going to be late for her patrol.

Hermione was running down the stairs, taking two steps at a time. She couldn't permit herself to be late again because of "private reasons", as McGonagall had said the last time, when she had turned up late to a meeting.

The Ravenclaw prefect girl, Padma Patil, had looked at her reproachfully, and Slytherin... Malfoy had just smirked at her, in his usual way. The Hufflepuff prefect had just taken notes of everything the teacher had said.

Hermione sighed as she remembered that meeting. It was there that she had wished to have been in the other group, without Malfoy.

Apparently, Dumbledore had found the need to divide the prefects into two teams, so that one of each house was in one of them.

There were Hermione and Malfoy with Padma and Ernie McMillan, and on the other side Ron with Pansy Parkinson, Hannah Abbot and Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw.

How had she wished to be able to switch with Ron, that day, but only for a brief moment, since she wasn't the kind of person anyone else could easily influence.

How unlucky for her that she had also come late to the one meeting where they were divided into pairs of two for patrolling.

Malfoy hadn't mentioned any preferences, and so, Padma had ended up with Ernie, and she had been paired with the Slythering. Hermione ground her teeth at the memory.

As she had then arrived there, the only thing he had said before leaving had been "here comes the mudblood".

His usual sneer had been on his face, but he was gone before McGonagall had been able to say anything.

Still, Hermione had been surprised that he hadn't complained more. Maybe he had just been in a hurry to leave. He sure had changed over the years. As for the insult, it seemed as if both of them knew that it had become nothing more than an empty word.

Instead, their "relationship" had evolved to a higher level. They weren't calling each other names as frequently anymore, but were using more intelligent remarks.

The young Gryffindor sometimes even enjoyed those challenges, because they were something different and a change to her usual day, but that didn't keep her from sometimes being hurt. He knew very well how to do that, too.

Obviously, Hermione would almost rather die than to _ever _admit any of that.

She was running up some stairs now, definitely being late. McGonagall was not going to like it at all. Still, being with Seamus had changed her to some extent, and just thinking of him made her smile.

Not paying attention to where she was going, she suddenly bumped into someone, making her stumble back, but before she could fall down those painful steps, the other person caught her by the wrist and held her up.

Malfoy, a smirk on his face.

"Careful now, mudblood. It would be a pity if your dirty blood covered the stairs that I have to walk over every day." Despite those words, she could see that he was in a bad mood, worse than usual, and he looked thoughtful.

"Am I late?" Hermione asked instead of answering, eyeing him carefully. You could never be too careful with him in such a bad mood. His eyes looked like a cloudy sky, just before a storm, dark and impenetrable.

She was out of breath for running up the stairs, and was now leaning against the wall, closing her eyes.

Draco looked at her, a frown on his face. She had never come late to anything before, except for the past few meetings where she hadn't been able to pair up with anyone else than with him.

He didn't mind, since that would mean less work for him, but the way things looked at the moment, he wasn't so sure about that anymore.

"Whatever. Just do whatever you want now, I'll just walk round here for a bit and then leave."

She flung her eyes open. "But you can't do that, it is your duty as a Prefect to make sure that everything is okay. You have to do this for at least a few hours, to make sure that all of the students are in bed!"

"But there's nothing you can do about it, now is there?" he asked with a sneer.

"We'll see about that" she exclaimed.

"Don't you _dare_ talk to me like that. I am still better than you will ever be."

Hermione simply laughed, too happy to care at the moment, and saw the grey of his eyes lighten up ever so slightly. It was a really old line. But he turned away and began walking through their assigned corridors, so everything she had left to do that evening was to keep an eye on the students.

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**That was it for chapter one. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated :)**

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	2. Chapter 2

"Don't you dare talk to me like that

"_Don't you _dare_ talk to me like that. I am still better than you will ever be." _

_Hermione simply laughed, and saw the grey of his eyes lighten up ever so slightly. It was a really old sentence. But he turned away and began walking through their assigned corridors, so everything she had left to do that evening was to keep an eye on the students._

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**Chapter Two**

Hermione was quite tired after walking through the corridors for a few hours. She had made sure that Malfoy stayed there as well, not wanting him to believe that he could just push off his work to her.

She entered the common room, and sure enough, there was Seamus, waiting for her like he had done the past few times she had been on patrol. He was alone, which was quite strange since there were usually still a few people up at this time, finishing off homework.

More privacy then…

She softly walked up to him, seeing that he was asleep on one of the sofas, but as her gaze fell upon his face, she stopped. Something wasn't quite right; his expression seemed dark, even in his sleep, something she had never seen on it before.

She slowly stepped around him, having a bad feeling as she saw his arm hanging down the armrest. He had a glass bottle in his hand, next to it a crumpled piece of paper on the floor. As far as she could see, it was a letter.

She took a step back, her foot touching something that had lain on the floor, making a loud metallic clang. The young man's eyes shot opened, the look in them cloudy and wild. He was drunk.

"'Mione…" he muttered.

"What…what have you done to yourself?" she asked him, carefully studying his face. It was drawn and tired, looking so different from how he had looked just a few hours ago.

"Wha' you mean, I'm perfectly fine!" he exclaimed, the voice coming out unclearly so that she had trouble understanding him. "Come 'ere…"

She hesitantly took a step towards him, but stopped again. He got angry quickly.

"Oh, so now I'm not good enough for you either! It's always the same. First my parents, now you!"

"No…that's not it…what do you mean?"

"It's all the same", he said again, "just look at that letter. Go on, take it and read. It won't bite you." He laughed slightly at his last remark, as if that was something incredibly funny.

Hermione picked up the letter from the floor, her gaze never leaving his face. He lifted his arm towards his lips and took another deep swig from the bottle, some of the clear liquid running down his chin.

As she straightened up again, she evened the crumpled paper and held it in a trembling hand, but before she could even start reading it, Seamus had ripped it out of her fingers and thrown it into the blazing fire.

She looked at him, startled and scared.

"Guess what, I'm 'a tell you wha's written there. My parents don't get along 'nymore." He spoke in a slur, his bloodshot eyes fixating her. "Figures that they blame it on me. Now I had hoped tha' me being in Hogwarts would change things, but my mum apparently misses me so that she won't stop talkin' 'bout me, so my dad gets upset. Upset that he's the only muggle in the family."

A bitter smile appeared on his lips as he drank once again, this time so much that he coughed and dropped the bottle.

"Why would he get upset?" Hermione asked quietly.

"For sum reason or another. Point is, they're separating, tellin' me it's all my fault. Nice one, don' you think?" He chuckled. "Yeh, nice one…"

The young girl frowned. Was that really a reason for him to get that upset? She knew that she couldn't just leave him there, so she sat down next to him, putting her arms soothingly around him.

He leaned over to kiss her, but in that state, she just couldn't get herself to do it, and leaned away. He looked at her, angry and hurt.

"Since when is it like this?" she whispered, trying to calm him down.

"Few months" he said darkly.

He had been hiding this for a few months now. Hermione could understand more clearly now why he was reacting that way. He had been dealing with this alone for all this time, and now it all came crashing down on him.

"I'm so sorry. You should have talked to me about it. We can find a way, together."

He simply grunted and tried reaching for the bottle on the floor.

"Come, I'll bring you to Mrs. Pomfrey, and we'll forget about this. You know that I will help you, you could have just told me" she said softly.

She pulled him up, but he struggled in her arms and tried to get free.

"No!" he said. "You jus' wanna get rid of me tha' way, righ'? I know your tricks, filthy…" He did not say a word, but she could imagine what he meant. She felt hurt and angry. She was trying to help him.

Still, she remained stubborn. "Come, or you'll have a really bad headache tomorrow."

"It's not like you care" he muttered under his breath. She pulled him, but it all happened very quickly then. He tore his hand out of hers and with force, slapped her across the face. Hermione stumbled backwards, her eyes wide open.

After a few seconds, she ran past him and up the stairs to the dorm. Seamus looked slightly confused, then turned around to follow her.

"'Mione!" he called. "Wait! I'm sorry!" Even though he tried, his voice was just a hoarse cry, not even loud enough to wake anyone.

He stumbled and fell, hitting his head hard on the floor.

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**Thanks for reading! :) Leave a review ;)**

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	3. Chapter 3

"'Mione

"'_Mione!" he called. "Wait! I'm sorry!" Even though he tried his voice was just a hoarse cry, not even loud enough to wake anyone. _

_He stumbled and fell, hitting his head hard on the floor. _

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**Chapter Three**

The next morning, before anyone had come downstairs to the common room, Seamus had gotten up to see Mrs. Pomfrey, with a really bad headache and a bruise on his forehead from his fall.

Lucky for him, he didn't get caught by any of the teachers, which could have meant a detention. Besides, he didn't want to admit to anyone that he had been drunk, except for Mrs. Pomfrey who would know anyway, and that he had hit Hermione.

He was unbelievably worried about that last part and sorry, and he just couldn't believe how he could have done something like that. But he remembered, if not very clearly, and knew that all of this hadn't been a dream, his head being all the proof he needed.

Meanwhile, Hermione had gotten up and was now getting ready for the day. She had slept very badly, not finding sleep until late in the morning, and had repeatedly woken up. Looking at herself in the mirror, she could see deep shadows underneath her eyes, her skin pale, but the worst of all was on her left cheek.

A red and blue streak was clearly visible on it, pain shooting through it as she touched it. She closed her eyes, a tear slowly sliding down the young girl's cheeks.

Seamus.

She clenched her right hand to a fist as she thought about him. She couldn't, no, she wouldn't let herself get down because of that incident. She didn't need him anyway. Still, there was another pain inside her that just didn't want her to let him go.

Should she give him another chance? After all, he had been drunk.

But that was the point. If he got drunk often, he would do it again and again. But before that, she had never seen him drunk anyway, and she had been with him for long enough to know that he didn't do something like that very often.

She had a long, hot shower and then tried to cover the bruise with some make-up, but the result was just worse, so she had to wash it off again. It was undeniably there, but Hermione wasn't the brightest witch of her age for no reason.

She just made up a quite believable story of herself tripping down some stairs and then hitting her cheek against some painting that was hung up on the wall. Hermione didn't want to wait for anyone and just went downstairs for breakfast.

The hall was still quite empty, but there were already a few students and teacher sitting at the tables. The rest of the people would most likely be there in 15 minutes or so. She started putting some food on her plate and eating listlessly, keeping her head low.

Someone passed behind her and said something.

"Weaselbee and Potter dumped you didn't they? What a pity, where's that other guy then?"

Malfoy. Hermione was definitely not in the mood for a confrontation and decided to ignore him, but he stopped and turned towards her.

"No smart reply now? Must have lost all of your confidence now that you're alone, isn't it?" he said smugly.

"Just piss off, Malfoy" she said quietly, her voice full of restrained anger.

But he had already continued his way, and she wasn't sure if he had heard her. Either way, the young girl didn't particularly mind, but she had lost her appetite. She got up and crossed the hall, and as she turned around at the big doors, she saw Malfoy looking at her questioningly.

As he noticed her look upon him, he changed his expression into a smirk and started talking to some Slytherins while she left. Recomposing her expression, she made her way to the common room to face her friends.

She didn't want them to know that anything was different or to worry, she was just not the type of person who liked this kind of attention very much.

Before she could reach the painting which marked the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, someone pulled her behind a statue.

"Hermione, listen. I don't want you to say anything at the moment, just listen to me."

Seamus. Hermione looked up at his face, worry and concern clearly shown on his features. He seemed to regret everything he had done the night before that she had already almost forgiven him.

Her heart beat faster as she saw him in this state. She knew she would forgive him, either way. Still, she crossed her arms and looked at him without saying a word. She wouldn't let him off this one very easily, no matter how sorry he was, so she waited.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a short moment before he started talking.

"I…I didn't know what I was doing…I was drunk. I know that's no excuse, I shouldn't have gotten drunk in the first place…I was upset. That is still no excuse…I should never have…have hit you. Hermione, please believe me, I am so sorry about it. I don't want it to happen again. I don't ask forgiveness of you, I know it is just too much to expect from you, but please…" His voice trailed off and he helplessly looked around.

For once, Hermione didn't know what to do or say in this situation. She had never experienced something like that before and was unsure of what to do. Since she couldn't find a proper solution in her mind, she decided to listen to what she felt.

She bit her lip and slowly came closer, taking his face into her hands.

"Don't do it again" she said in an icy voice. He flinched, but then her tone became warmer. "I don't want this to happen again. You can talk to me about what worries you, you know that." She leaned in to hug him, and he hesitantly hugged her back. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was.

He leaned down to kiss her, and she kissed him back, then broke away grinning mischievously, but he didn't notice. His eyes stared at her left cheek where he had left his mark.

He held her closer to him. "I am so sorry."

She sighed, then nodded. He hadn't expected her to say "it's okay", because it wasn't, but the fact that she had nodded was already very comforting.

She sighed again. "I thought of a reason, you know, for this," she gestured towards her cheek, "I fell down some stairs and hit my face on a painting or wherever. I know it's strange, but I couldn't come up with anything else…"

"I think that's fine…" he gladly accepted. He hadn't been able to think of anything himself yet.

Hermione wondered what he would have done if she hadn't had that excuse for them. Would he just have admitted everything to his friends and class mates?

And then, there was still doubt. Despite what she had just said and done, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd do it again. Her mom had once said that once a guy did her physical harm, she should break up with him because he'd do it again.

But he had been drunk. Again, she didn't know if her decision was right, but at the moment, she couldn't imagine acting differently. After all, he cared about her, didn't he?

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**Here's a pretty short chapter actually, with still not enough DracoHermione interaction for my taste :P**

**but it's getting on, just setting the scene here ;)**

**By the way, thanks to everyone who reviewed, much appreciated!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

And then, there was still doubt

_And then, there was still doubt. Despite what she had just said and done, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd do it again. Her mom had once said that once a guy did her physical harm, she should break up with him because he'd do it again. _

_But he had been drunk. Again, she didn't know if her decision was right, but at the moment, everything seemed to be alright._

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**Chapter Four**

During the morning, people repeatedly asked about Hermione's cheek, but she only smiled and told them about her own "clumsiness". All that time, Seamus had his arm protectively around her waist, thoughtful.

Mrs. Pomfrey had also healed the bruise on his forehead, so he didn't have to make up anything. He wondered if Hermione should do the same, but now that everyone had seen it anyway, there wasn't much he could do about it. He didn't think much about that anymore though, but more about his family situation again. He felt the urge to forget everything and to just let himself fall, but he restrained himself.

After lunch then, they had different classes and she went to potions with Harry and Ron. She hadn't seen Malfoy all morning after having breakfast, so she didn't mind having one lesson with him now.

Slughorn wasn't as harsh as Snape, but that didn't keep him from pairing up the most unlikely people together to make potions. As it had to be foreseen, Hermione ended up with Malfoy, Harry with Pansy and Ron with Millicent.

Since her partner didn't move, it was her who had to get all of her things to his desk while he sat back. She was sure that if Snape had still been the potions teacher, he would have put his feet on the table.

His gaze lingered on her cheek longer than it would usually have, but she decided to ignore him and started cutting up the ingredients. He frowned.

"Granger?"

Hermione looked up, slightly startled by his tone of voice. He made a movement with his head towards her cheek without saying anything. She simply shrugged and concentrated on her work again.

He sighed and sat up, then took the knife out of her hand.

"And I thought that I wouldn't have to work today" he muttered, looking at her in mock disapproval.

"Well nobody _asked_ you to do this" the young girl said icily and tried to get the knife back.

"Oh no, this is not the way this works. I always get what I want" he said, smirking.

Hermione sat back and crossed her arms, looking away. For a moment, he continued cutting without saying a word, and she sighed. He smiled smugly and put down the knife and turned to her, ready to listen.

"Fell down some stairs" she muttered.

Draco chuckled lightly. "That's it?"

She looked at him, confused, and he looked back, straight into her eyes. She had never noticed the silver glimmer in them which made the grey look less dark. He smirked and lifted an eyebrow, and Hermione looked away, biting her lip.

He was still a Malfoy.

She was aware of the fact that he looked at her cheek again, and it seemed as if he wondered if she had told him the truth.

"I don't believe you" he simply stated after a moment of silence.

"But that's not my problem, is it?" the young girl snapped before throwing all of their ingredients into a cauldron. She looked over to see Ron and Harry having a hard time with both of their partners, and sighed.

"Yeah, doesn't look like Weasel and Potter are having a great time either" Draco said, following her gaze and repeating her thoughts. "Understandable though, with those two." He snorted in contempt, and Hermione wondered what all of that meant.

"Isn't Pansy your girlfriend?"

"No" he said quickly, almost shocked, and it was her turn to smile. She was actually having something like a normal conversation with him.

They were working quietly again, both in deep thought about the person sitting next to them, and everything they actually didn't know about each other. Then, Hermione thought about Seamus and stopped stirring for a second before starting again, too fast.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Malfoy almost ripped the ladle out of her hand and went on stirring regularly again. For a brief moment, their hands had touched, his warm hand against hers, cold.

The potion, which had changed from a red to a bright pink, now turned to purple, the colour it was supposed to be, and Draco sighed, relieved for having saved his grade.

"Honestly Granger" he said and looked at her, but she was deep in thought and was staring into space. He decided to ignore her but before his eyes could turn away from her face they were back on her cheek and he couldn't help but stare at it. He knew the signs; his father had often done this to his mother. But who would do that to her?

He felt the urge to reach up and touch her cheek to see if it was real, to ease the pain in whichever way he could and make her talk to him. He clenched his jaw and concentrated on the potion, stubbornly not looking anywhere else than into the cauldron.

At the end of the lesson, they were still not done, like most of the students, but Slughorn didn't accept any excuses because a few had managed to finish in time.

"Finish these potions until next lesson, which is tomorrow. _With your partners_" he added sharply, "and if I find out you haven't, then you will have detention. Same is if you don't do it at all. You may use this classroom at the end of the day, where I will be supervising."

He turned away and let the students pack their bags and put away their cauldrons, ready for use in the afternoon or the evening.

Seamus was waiting in front of the door for Hermione, taking her outside to the park while Ron and Harry went to the library to give them some privacy. Draco was watching the couple, but he couldn't see much of the warmth and laughter he had a few days ago.

Suddenly, Pansy jumped up to him from behind and giggled into his ear before putting her arm through his. She hadn't noticed where he had been looking and now pulled him exactly into the direction in which the couple had disappeared.

Hermione followed Seamus into the park, where they found a quiet spot close to the lake, under a big oak tree. She settled into his arms and they lay still for a moment, just looking at the landscape before them.

The young girl wondered if everything would ever be the same again between them, but the answer was quite simple. It wouldn't. She sighed and tried to get up.

"I think that I'd rather go to the library with Harry and Ron, I haven't properly spent time with them in ages…" she said quietly.

"That's okay I guess…" he replied, just as quiet, and they both stood up. She took his hand and they walked together, but without saying a word.

Hermione saw Draco and Pansy, the girl trying to cuddle closer to the young Slytherin while he was completely ignoring her and simply staring out onto the lake.

'He must treat her right enough then' she thought, this thought like an intruder in her mind, unwanted but still there. 'She looks as if she actually likes spending time with him.' So much about the fact that Pansy _wasn't_ his girlfriend.

She realised that she hadn't forgiven Seamus, and that she wouldn't, ever.

She bit her lip, a sign that she was having an inner struggle and that she was undecided about what to do next, and tried to forget about everything for a moment. She just wanted to spend some time with her friends again, especially with Harry.

Hermione wasn't so sure about Ron, since there were apparently two problems with him. The first one was the 'Lavender-factor', who didn't quite permit her to freely talk to him, and secondly, there was the 'Ron-factor' itself. He just wasn't himself anymore since she had started going out with Seamus.

It seemed as if he thought that he had every right to go out with a girl, but when it came to her, there were no other guys supposed to be with her except for him and Harry, who both were nothing more than just very good friends.

In the library, they found Harry and Ron alone at a desk, Ginny and Lavender nowhere to be seen. After a short greeting to the boys and a quick kiss for Hermione, Seamus left the friends.

Ron had nothing better to do then to glare, but Harry looked at Hermione, questions in his emerald green eyes.

"I just thought I'd spend time with you guys again" she said, a half-smile on her lips.

Harry grinned, a grin she had always loved to see because that meant he was happy, but Ron crossed his arms and stared ahead.

"And why would you suddenly do that? Because he wasn't there to catch you when you tripped and hit your face against a – what was it – painting?"

Hermione stiffened and Harry elbowed Ron into the side. It looked painful enough, but the face that the redhead made was simply too funny and the two of them broke into laughter, leaving Ron fuming. Nonetheless, the mood had lightened up considerably and they were able to talk like they had always done, and soon, Ron joined in as well.

"What was with you and Malfoy?" Harry suddenly wondered.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, having forgotten about what had happened in to potions class for a moment.

"You looked like you were having a conversation" Harry said, lifting an eyebrow at the improbability of what he had just said himself, but curious.

"He was just being annoying as always" Hermione replied, rolling her eyes. "He asked me about this", she absentmindedly stroked her cheek, "like everyone did."

"Why would he ask you about it?" Ron interfered, confused. Neither of them answered, and he looked at Harry, then at Hermione.

"Is there something I'm missing or what?"

"No, Ronald" the young girl said, sounding impatient. She then asked them about their own potion partners, Pansy and Millicent.

They both groaned, because that had actually reminded them of the fact that they were supposed to finish their project with them.

"I don't envy you, Hermione, for being stuck with someone like him. Guess I think we should go there after dinner, all of us, so that we're not alone with them" Harry suggested.

Hermione sighed, then shook her head. "I would love to, but my group of Prefects has to watch the upper corridors this evening. You can go ahead though, you still have each other. I'll be fine" she said, sure of herself.

Harry nodded, but Ron, who had taken a look at the clock on the wall, jumped up, causing his chair to fall over in the process.

"Bloody hell, I forgot that I'm supposed to be on duty now" he exclaimed, glancing at them apologetically and making a run for it.

Their conversation had taken them longer than expected, so they decided to start with their homework. It wasn't long before dinner anymore, but Hermione didn't particularly look forward to it, because it meant seeing two particular people.

Seamus and Malfoy.

* * *

**Okayy well "interaction" sorta starts here :P**

**Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for all the nice reviews.**


	5. Chapter 5

_Their conversation had taken them longer than expected, so they decided to start with their homework. It wasn't long before dinner anymore, but Hermione didn't particularly look forward to it, because it meant seeing two particular people._

_Seamus and Malfoy._

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Hermione stayed long enough in the Great Hall to have a bit of food so that she wouldn't go hungry in the night, but not longer than necessary. She made up an excuse – she slowly got used to that – and said that she still had a lot of homework to finish, which was something everyone believed.

From across the hall, Malfoy didn't even look at her once, and Seamus had been sitting next to her, but had been talking to some of his other friends. People felt that there was something going on, but didn't dare ask what it was.

She went up to one of the astronomy towers and found it empty. Relieved, she leaned against the railing, resting her elbows on the cool stone, and looked up at the night sky.

She didn't know how long she had been standing there, but after some time, she heard steps behind her. She didn't turn around, and the other person came closer to stand next to her.

Copying her position, he leaned over, but instead of looking up, he looked down and over the lake. The moonlight reflected in his silver blonde hair.

"Didn't know you liked hanging out here" Malfoy said casually.

The young Gryffindor simply nodded to acknowledge his presence and his words, but said nothing. She went on looking, the light of the stars mirroring in her eyes.

"I really wonder what's going on in that head of yours, you know. Not that it interests me, but it would be a lie for me to say that I completely understand your actions."

Hermione wasn't in the mood for an argument. She just looked at him for a moment before turning away and closing her eyes. She looked tired and pale.

He sighed in played exasperation and moved away.

"Anyway, not that it particularly concerns me, but you were supposed to be on duty half an hour ago. Took me long enough to find you here, mudblood, now get going and help me 'cause I'm not doing any of this alone when I don't have to."

Hermione glared at him. He smirked and turned, walking off in a careless manner. She followed him, keeping some distance to him, and once they reached their designated corridors, took another direction than him.

Almost finished, she was starting to feel a bit tired. Hermione leaned her forehead against one of the bare stone walls, grateful for the soothing surface of it, cooling down her heated forehead.

She exhaled deeply before she felt a hand on her shoulder and whirled around. It was only Malfoy, and she instantly relaxed, but there was something about his eyes that wouldn't let her go.

They looked concerned, a frown creasing his forehead, his straight eyebrows pulled down.

"What's wrong with you Granger?" he asked quietly. He searched her face intently, as if the answer would be written on it. In a way, it was. Her cheek.

She snorted and looked past him, avoiding his gaze. Hesitantly, as if not sure of himself, Malfoy lifted his hand up as if he was going to touch her chin and make her turn to face him, but then didn't. Instead, he shook his head and let go of her. He left.

"Wait."

He slowly turned his head so that she could see the sharp profile of his face, but his back was still towards her. He waited for her to speak, but she suddenly seemed to have forgotten what she was going to say.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I don't" he snorted.

She lifted an eyebrow. His behaviour simply didn't make sense to her.

"It's not fun like this" he simply said, leaving it to her to figure out the meaning of it. "Is there anything else you want to tell me or am I free to go?" he asked sarcastically.

"Uhm…before I forget, we're still supposed to do that potion for Slughorn. Since we're Prefects, we can stay up longer than others and use his rooms now…What do you think?"

This was unexpected for him since he hadn't thought about it, and caught him off guard. He lifted an eyebrow and walked a few steps away from her before stopping.

"Fine by me. But let's get this over with quickly, I have better things to do than waste my time with someone like you."

Hermione nodded, though he could not see her, and walked ahead. He followed this time, a few steps behind her, their feet making almost no sound on the marble floor. It was silent around them, not many students out on these corridors.

They reached the room and found it empty, but with traces that other students had been in it recently, finishing off their own projects. Draco went to get their own cauldron while Hermione took out her potions book and got out the ingredients.

She felt slightly uncomfortable, but simply couldn't place it. It wasn't the fact that she was alone in this room with Malfoy either, she had gotten used to him over the years. She opened the book with shaky fingers and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes behind her ear.

Draco looked at her while setting up everything. She was concentrated on the written text, her eyes intent upon the page. The strand of hair she had just put behind her ear came forward again, and she frowned.

He smirked inwardly at the transformation she had gone through since her first year, and her hair getting wavier with time. Silky curls of brown were now flowing down her back, looking so soft that he wondered what they would feel like under his fingers.

After having everything in place, he sat down and positioned his feet on the desk. Hermione turned to him and rolled her eyes as she saw how he was sitting.

"Don't think you won't have anything to do" she said, flipping pages in the book to find everything she needed.

"Make me" he spat, crossing his arms. He had only come here because he had to, but not to actually do anything. He was disconcerted by his thoughts and was feeling uneasy, but couldn't quite say why, and didn't want to spend any more time here than necessary.

Hermione looked at him for a few seconds, a strange look on her face, before shrugging and starting to heat the cauldron, producing a flame with a small flick of her wand. Malfoy sat in his chair, sulking.

He didn't even want to be there, and the fact that he was seemed to be reason enough for him to feel anger towards that girl. All feelings he had had a few minutes before had vanished.

"Why am I doing this?!" he suddenly exclaimed and got up. His chair almost fell over, but he caught it in a swift movement and pushed it upright.

This reminded her of Ron, how he had made his chair fall, but not bothered to pick it up. Malfoy seemed almost graceful compared to him. The actual memory made her want to smile, but thinking of the redhead didn't particularly put her in a very cheerful mood.

Besides, before that had happened, Seamus had brought her to the library. Definitely not a reason to smile.

Under those different emotions, she ended up staring straight ahead, past Draco. He didn't like being ignored and was now definitely bewildered by the girl's behaviour. In two big steps, he was in front of her, passing his hand in front of her eyes in a quick motion.

She snapped out of it and focused her gaze on Malfoy, frowning as if wondering what she was even doing there.

"Christ, Granger, get a grip!" he growled. She didn't reply, so he figured he had only one thing to say.

"Who hit you?"

Her head abruptly turned, and her eyes widened. Was that enough of an answer? He didn't know what to make of it.

Then, she started giggling almost hysterically. He eyed her as if she was mad, and took a step back. Had he been wrong?

"I can't…believe…you thought…so…funny…can't…breathe" the young Gryffindor giggled, having to gasp for air between each of those words.

Draco sneered, definitely hurt in his pride, and walked over to the cauldron to look at it, but not touching it otherwise.

"You better do your work, you filthy mudblood" he snarled.

Hermione turned to get some of the ingredients they had prepared earlier, hiding her face so that he couldn't see how much these words had actually hurt her. Apparently, Malfoy had been the only one able to see through her pretenses, and she longed to tell someone about it, anyone, but couldn't.

'He'd be that last person I would tell something like that, anyway' she thought bitterly.

Breathing in sharply, she finally walked over to him and dumped the ingredients into the cauldron, not looking at him once, but forcing herself to smile. He was scowling, deliberately looking out of one of the windows onto the lake.

Later that night, when they had finally finished their potion and returned to their dorms, Hermione felt too tired to cry. He had almost known about it.

'That was close' she thought before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

**Yess some more interaction there :)**

**Hope you like **


	6. Chapter 6

Later that night, when they had finally finished their potion and returned to their dorms, Hermione was too tired to cry

_Later that night, when they had finally finished their potion and returned to their dorms, Hermione was too tired to cry. He had almost known about it._

'_That was close' she thought before drifting off to sleep._

* * *

**Chapter Six**

The alarm clock rang far too early. Hermione groaned and forced herself to stand up, rubbing her eyes. The thought of simply not going to lessons crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed it and got ready.

Potions was first. Just great. At least they had finished off their potion, and Hermione hoped that this would enable her to keep her distance from Malfoy. She might be paired up with someone else next time.

Breakfast first though. First challenge of the day, too, since it consisted facing Seamus.

'Facing Seamus…' the young girl thought pensively. Had she really started considering it as a challenge?

'No' she decided. She would definitely give him one more chance, and forget about the whole thing. If it happened again, she could still walk away. It didn't cross her mind that it might already be too late by then.

She didn't know why she wanted to give him that chance, when she had thought that she couldn't just the day before. She just felt like forgiving him, and she didn't want anything to stand between them.

In the hall, she smiled cheerfully and leaned against Seamus, who looked at her wonderingly, but then smiled back. It seemed as if everything was going fine and that she had made up her mind.

Looking over to the Slytherin table unconsciously, her gaze fell upon Malfoy. As if he had noticed her looking at him, he looked up, then sneered and deliberately turned his head.

Hermione frowned, but couldn't really blame him. He had been so close to uncovering her secret, and she had mocked him for his…concern? She couldn't believe that he had actually done what he had the night before. Had it all been a dream?

She thoughtfully stared at her plate for a few seconds, and in those seconds, it was the young Slytherin who lifted his eyes to look at her. He wondered what she was thinking, and why he wanted to know, for she had proven him yesterday that he had been wrong with his theory.

The day passed rather quickly, and Hermione was able to talk to Seamus. They were holding hands again, and all the while she was smiling or laughing with him.

Just like before.

She sighed as she had to sit down for potions that morning, and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. She didn't know why, but she felt slightly uncomfortable being in this room again.

Slughorn came in, and started praising the students for they had all completed their homework.

"However, I am not happy with two of you." His gaze bore into Hermione's, and she frowned.

"Don't act as if you didn't know, Miss Granger. I would have expected better from you. Mr. Malfoy, same goes for you."

"I don't understand, professor" the young girl said hesitantly. "We both finished the potion and left it here…"

"Ah, but you see my dear, that's where the problem is. I didn't see you yesterday, but I was in this classroom for the whole afternoon. This forces me to assume that one of you must have done the potion on his own."

"But that…"

"No buts, Mr. Malfoy, I thought I warned you sufficiently!"

"We both did the potion here, it was just later because…"

Hermione was cut off by Slughorn's impatient wiggle of his hand. "Enough! If I hear one more word… As it is, you will both have detention with me, so don't make it worse than it is! Tonight, after dinner, in here."

The young Gryffindor simply gaped at him in shock, and slowly turned towards her right side to see Malfoy do the same.

The potions master simply turned away and started his lesson, while Harry shot Hermione a glance saying something like "unlucky", and Ron staring over to Malfoy, who was scowling at the man standing in front of the class.

At the end of the lesson, Malfoy swiftly stood up and walked past Hermione, giving her a death glare, but saying nothing otherwise.

"I can't believe I'm stuck with that…_git!_" Hermione exclaimed to her friends as they sat down in the library. Seamus was going to pick her up later, he still had something to do.

"Yeah, I can't imagine what that must be like" Ron added, shuddering, earning a disapproving look from Harry and a scowl from Hermione.

"What?" he asked. "I was just saying!"

"Yes Ron, sure you were" Harry sighed, which for some reason caused the young girl to smile.

"Where are Ginny and Lavender?" she asked.

"Doing stuff together" Ron muttered, shrugging.

"Now that is a very satisfying answer" she answered, which made Ron glare playfully at her.

Behind her, she could hear steps, and immediately knew who it was.

"Guess I'll leave you now, and I think you should go looking for the two" Hermione said before turning around and taking hold of Seamus' hand, who smiled down at her and pulled her with him towards the stone bench they had in a way made theirs.

Once they were seated, he pulled out a small box from his pocket and opened it for her. It was a small flower-shaped hairpin.

"I just wanted to give you this" he whispered, gently stroking her hair and pinning it behind her ear, his hands faltering. She giggled and slowly took the pin out of his hand to do it herself, but her eyes never leaving his.

"Thank you" she murmured, kissing him. She couldn't really be mad at him now, could she? Why did she keep on asking herself that question then? It didn't matter.

It started raining after a bit, as if trying to remind them that it was almost winter after all. Seamus looked up and then pulled her from the bench, though they couldn't get wet anyway, but still pulled her inside. Hermione wondered what it would feel like to have the cold drops hit her skin, trickle down her arms and soak her hair. It had been a long time since she had danced in the rain, for Seamus always preferred to sit under a cover. She was happy though, and soon enough, it was time for dinner after which they entered their common room.

"How about you don't go to that detention of yours?" he asked quietly after they had seated themselves at the fire, stroking her arm.

"I think we already had that discussion, didn't we?" Hermione asked playfully.

"So your answer will be the same?" he grimaced.

"I'm afraid so" she smiled. She didn't know why she really had the urge to go to that detention though, but she somehow wanted to apologise to Malfoy for being like that to him the night before. It seemed as if he had really only tried to help, no matter how unlikely that seemed.

"You look tired" Seamus suddenly said.

"Prefect duties" Hermione yawned, shrugging. "It's okay, I also had to finish that potion last night, so when I come back from that stupid detention, I will go to sleep straight away."

After a look at his face, she added that he wouldn't have to wait for her tonight. "You look like you need some sleep too, so I think you should go early as well."

"I don't know, but I think you're right… Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I should go now, if I don't want to be late."

"Which I am sure you don't" he grinned. "Have fun."

"Right…"she made a face. "Good night." With a kiss, she left.

Seamus slowly made his way towards the boy's dorms. It was empty, the rest of the Gryffindors still in the common room or somewhere else.

Looking around, he couldn't help but feel guilty, and hesitated shortly. He didn't know why he was doing it, really, but it just had this irresistible effect on him. He wouldn't hurt her, not this time.

Slowly, he crouched down onto the floor and lifted up a piece of the wooden surface, unseen because it was exactly under his bed. Underneath was a bottle filled with a clear liquid.

"Besides, I won't drink as much as the other night, so it can't be that bad" he said quietly before taking a deep swig from the strong drink, enjoying the feeling of warmth spreading in his chest.

* * *

**A bit short, but well..**

**Just wanted to say right here that my next update is probably going to be the last for the next two months, PROBABLY, since I'm going on holidays :)**

**I promise though that I will try my best to finish the story in that time, and post it when I get back.**


	7. Chapter 7

Slowly, he crouched down onto the floor and lifted up a piece of the wooden surface, unseen because it was exactly under his bed

_Slowly, he crouched down onto the floor and lifted up a piece of the wooden surface, unseen because it was exactly under his bed. Underneath was a bottle filled with a clear liquid._

"_Besides, I won't drink as much as the other night, so it can't be that bad" he said quietly before taking a deep swig from the strong drink, enjoying the feeling of warmth spreading in his chest. _

* * *

**Chapter Seven **

When Hermione got to the class room, Malfoy still wasn't there. Slughorn was sitting at his desk, sorting through papers and occasionally stirring a potion that was bubbling away in a miniature cauldron on his desk. He seemed distracted and didn't look up as she entered the room, so she decided to sit down.

As she heard footsteps behind here, she didn't turn but stared straight ahead, not daring to meet his eye. Was he going to give her that strange, hostile look again? She should be used to it by now, having received for the past 5 years, but somehow, this was different. It made her feel even more helpless then usually because he had been the only one able to see the truth. With those looks, he was denying his own observing nature.

Slughorn turned his back towards them and started speaking, rummaging in his papers.

"Glad to have you here, you two. This really is unnecessary, but as it is, I am going to have to ask the both of you to just clean up a little here. But _watch what you're doing_" he added sharply. "No messes here."

Hermione sighed while she could hear Malfoy scoff behind here. She was imagining his face, how his lips would pull upward into a sneer, and his eyes would lose some of their silver spark for a split second. Disconcerted, she shook her head to clear it from those thoughts.

"Miss Granger, I will ask you to clean the top shelves of this mantelpiece here, using this duster here. Be careful not to knock any of the glasses over, or you might experience a…nasty surprise. However, I am sure I can trust you with that. You on the other hand will do something else. I have here" he removed a stack of paper from a drawer that had been neatly organised and scattered them on the floor "some files that need to be sorted. I believe that you should be able to file them alphabetically. You will be released once you're done and are free to go. But until then…" He trailed off, then glanced at his watch and almost jumped. "I have to go." With that, he hurriedly left the room.

"Brilliant." Hermione could hear Draco mutter behind her. She didn't know why she was referring to him as "Draco" in her mind, but she didn't really find much wrong with it. After all, that was his name.

"Stupid…arrogant…Why…" He was quietly mumbling, cursing under his breath while he got up from his chair and stood next to the stack on the floor. Hermione didn't like seeing him in this mood; it made him irritable and difficult to talk to.

He stood there for a while, staring at the papers before sitting back down again, crossing his arms before his chest and looking away, his expression stern. She thought about saying something, but knew that it would only make matters worse. Looking up at the mantelpiece, she realised that it was far too high for her. How did Slughorn expect her to clean that if she couldn't even reach it?

She sighed in desperation, then got a chair and placed it as closely to the piece of furniture as possible. Testing if it was stable, she carefully climbed onto it and held onto the mantelpiece in order not to lose her balance. She stretched up her right hand and got onto the tip of her toes, but could only just reach the top; there were still a few centimetres missing to make her clean the shelf with ease. She slowly lowered her hand and turned her head to the side, breathing in deeply, only to realise that Malfoy was staring at her.

"You might want to watch that, someone as clumsy as you might actually fall and then there's the mess. Another bruise wouldn't quite suit you I believe" he added sarcastically, but Hermione stiffened. Any allusion to that still made her feel uncomfortable, especially coming from him. He had been so close to finding out the truth.

Draco was watching her reaction intently from his seat, keeping his face even. The way she tensed still didn't seem quite right to him, but he wasn't in the mood to care. She had laughed him in the face once; he wouldn't let that happen again.

He turned his attention back to the scattered files on the floor but was unable to get himself to move. This task was far below him, and there was no way he was getting down on his knees or picking them up to sort them out. That man could just _go to hell._

Hermione had turned back to the shelf, carefully removing glasses filled with liquids, potions and other strange objects and placing them onto desks, trying hard not to spill or drop anything. As she grabbed the last jar, she did not see that its outside was smeared with a clear liquid that had been oozing from a crack, and that made the smooth surface slippery; the container escaped her grasp.

Before she had time to utter a sound, the realisation that the glass would hit the ground and smash struck her, and she bit her lips as she watched it getting closer and closer to the floor. Time suddenly seemed to stop as the jar stopped, mere millimetres away from the ground, and Hermione could not think of a reason. She hesitantly looked around, and there it was: Draco had gotten up and drawn his wand in a flash, which was now pointed at the jar; she had not heard him utter a word. He slowly lowered it to the ground, closing the space between it and the ground, before looking up.

Hermione was standing on the chair, eyes wide, but breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that nothing had gone wrong.

"Thank you _so much_." She exhaled, then closed her eyes and slowly sunk onto the chair, trying not to lose her balance. Malfoy simply snorted and looked away, considering if he should make a nasty comment. After all, he had helped her, and that was the strangest thing, because he had no idea why.

A pained gasp made him look up again, and he saw that the young girl was staring at her hands, palms turned upwards as he saw them gradually turning red, burning away her skin. He was up from his chair in a smooth motion and instinctively reached out for her hands, but she turned them away from him and he growled.

"We don't have time for such stupid games, so don't be an idiot and give me your hands."

"No, that's not it" Hermione muttered through gritted teeth. "If you touch my hands, this will happen to you too. Could you go and…get some help?"

She looked into his dark grey eyes, which were sombre and serious. She turned away.

"Alright. I'll be back in a bit. Just…don't move, alright?"

Hermione bit her lip and tried hard not to look at him, tears forming in her eyes. The concern in his voice made her feel dizzy, and in a way sad. Why couldn't he always be like that?

She heard him walk away, then curse lowly, shaking the door violently. Slughorn had locked them in.

The young Slytherin was pacing in front of the door, fuming, but stopped dead in his tracks as he heard Hermione gasp once again. Her hands had gotten worse, as hard as she was trying to wipe them on a cloth she had found.

He was standing next to her in a few big steps, leaning towards her and eyeing the palms of her hands carefully, then looking at her face. Her eyes were glistening with restrained tears that she was trying to hold back in vain.

"There has to be something that can be done here" he whispered.

"I'm…not sure. Not against this specifically, because I don't know what was in the jar, but I know what we can do against the pain and stop the liquid from burning my hands any more. No matter how much I try to wipe it off, it won't stop. I'll have to see Mrs Pomfrey later on."

"Once we get out of here" he muttered darkly. "So then, what can we do?"

The fact that he had said "we" was stranger than anything else, and caused a strange feeling to flash through Hermione's chest, making her heart flutter. There never had been a "we" before with him. How much actually came from him, and how much was born out of this situation that forced them to work together?

"This won't be very difficult, but I'm not saying that you have to do this" she said quietly, but he simply shook his head, signalling to her that he didn't care about any of that.

"What we need is a cooling paste, since spells usually don't work with that kind of burn. I can do most of it, but you'd have to put it on my hands, if you don't mind doing that…" She trailed off, not sure if he was willing to do that.

He scowled, and she was sure that meant. She tried to get up slowly without using her hands. "It's fine if you don't want to help me, I under-…" she broke off mid-word as a new wave of pain shot through her hands and she had to suck in air.

"Just tell me what I have to do!"

Hermione instructed him to get a few ingredients that were labelled properly in the cupboard and to mix them all together with grease to make a thick paste out of it. He worked quickly and efficiently and the young girl couldn't help but stare at the quick movements his hands were making, wondering where he had learned that. She had never seen him work like that in class.

He seemed intent on his task, his face in a slight frown as he was putting together the necessary ingredients. She tried to help him at one point, but her hands wouldn't move and she almost dropped something, causing her to give up and sit down against the wall, her cheek pressed against the cool and soothing stone.

"Here it is. Now let me do this…" He was kneeling before her, his body leaned in so closely that she could smell his skin and feel the warmth radiating off it.

"Be careful not to touch my skin directly, you can apply the paste quite thickly on it" she said softly.

She stretched out her hand, and Draco dipped his fingers into the bowl he had used to mix the ingredients and carefully applied the soothing balm. At first, it burned, and she had to grit her teeth and close her eyes tightly. As she opened them, he was looking up at her questioningly, but she simply nodded, and he proceeded.

"Thank you" she whispered, almost inaudibly, but he ignored that and kept on rubbing both the palms and the upside of her hands until the burning had ceased and made place to comforting numbness.

When he was sure her hands were both completely covered and had stopped hurting, he stopped, but instead of letting go simply sat there, staring at her hands, so delicate and small in his. Hermione was incapable of moving, caught in the moment, almost unable to breathe.

She was looking at their hands as well, looking at his lean fingers and his strong hands, tracing their contours with her eyes and following up his arms until they disappeared under his sleeves.

Tearing her gaze away from him, she slowly removed her hands from his and edged away against the wall, suddenly uncomfortable in their closeness.

"We should…I should finish up now, or we'll never get done with this" she said, more loudly then she had intended. They both flinched at the sudden, unexpected noise and Malfoy in turn moved away from her, standing up.

"You're right, but there is no way I'll let a clumsy mudblood step onto this chair again" he said, his tone mocking, but not bitingly sarcastic. She looked up at him, wondering what he meant, and he scoffed.

"You don't think I'm letting you do this again, or what? Besides, _I_ will definitely not get down on my knees and sort those out" he pointed over his shoulder where the papers were still lying on the floor. "A book freak is probably more suited for that."

Hermione stared at him for a second before her lips stretched into a small grin. He was offering to take over her job while recreating the distance between them they were both so comfortable with. It wasn't that they hadn't been comfortable before, but it was the kind of comfort that bewildered them, not understanding how they could feel that way with the other.

"I agree. I don't see how an illiterate git like you could ever do something as simple as sorting out papers. I should probably just bandage these" she added, looking at her hands that were thickly covered and had started throbbing numbly.

"Here, take this" he simply said, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and throwing it at her. "Oh wait, I'm an idiot" he said, picking it up from the desk it had landed on and carefully tying it around one of her hands; her eyes never left his face. He then scratched his head, almost apologetically. "That's the only one I've got" he explained, but Hermione was too stunned to reply. He looked up, and their eyes met.

His face was only inches away from hers.

* * *

**Hopefully this chapter was enough to please you all for two months ;)**

**Will update as soon as I can!**


	8. Chapter 8

_Hermione was too stunned to reply. He looked up, and their eyes met._

_His face was only inches away from hers. _

_

* * *

_

**Chapter Eight **

Hermione looked into Draco's dark grey eyes, unable to break the tension that had suddenly built up between them. She wanted to so badly, because it was what her mind told her; but another side longed to see what would happen next, and all the possibilities that this may bring.

Her mind won the battle, and she stepped back, carefully avoiding his gaze and trying not to touch him. He dropped his gaze to the ground and breathed a sigh before clenching his jaw. He seemed to be having a quiet struggle with himself, and Hermione wondered if he felt the same way. But that was impossible; he was who he was.

She quietly crouched down on the cold marble floor, her gaze quickly looking the scattered pile over before she went to work, one handed. She didn't get on quite as quickly as she could have, but Hermione considered it as fair seeing as she had taken on the easier task and that Malfoy had helped her out with hers. She could hear him moving behind her and only dared looking over her shoulder once; his face wore a distracted expression, his hands worked quickly and methodically as if he knew what he was doing.

She hadn't thought a Malfoy would be able to do such a thing as cleaning, and wasn't sure if he would be doing it hadn't he been so thoughtful. Though she was only using one hand, she had finished soon enough and had a neat pile on the desk in front of her. She sat down and wondered if she should offer her help, but then decided against it. What good would she do with only one hand? Both her hands had stopped burning and it seemed as if they weren't swollen, but she didn't trust using them yet.

Before she was able to say anything as she decided the silence had lasted long enough, the door burst open and Slughorn came in, then startled as he saw them.

"That's right, the two of you are still here" he mumbled before looking at them more closely. Malfoy looked up, apparently torn out of his reverie, and dropped the duster as he caught sight of Slughorn with a disgusted look on his face, as if he had just realised what he was actually doing.

"That's right, Mr. Malfoy, you can go now. That goes for you too, Miss Granger. But oh…" he trailed off as his eyes fell on her hands. "What happened there?" he inquired, stepping closer to her.

"It's nothing, professor" Hermione started. "It was just me being…"

"One of the jars had a _leak_" Malfoy corrected, snarling. He crossed his arms and looked away; why did he even bother saying that? 'It's her own fault' he thought, but in his mind, he wasn't referring to the fact that she had burnt her hands. 'When the mudblood always decides to bring herself down… I mean who can just watch. But what do I care _anyway_.'

"Why that is strange" Slughorn mumbled to himself, flicked his wand at her hands and muttered a spell. "And here we are" he said complacently. "Now off you go."

Draco rolled his eyes at the teacher. Had it been another student who'd gotten hurt, he'd have laughed at them. For now, he decided to let it go. It didn't matter, and she better know it too. It meant absolutely nothing.

Hermione was too confused to say anything more. She was just happy that she had escaped detention without any serious damage. Of course, she hadn't known that the danger wouldn't be coming from Malfoy. Why had he helped her again? One thing she would definitely was keep away from him in the next few weeks. This was getting well out of hand, and though she was still paired up with him in her Prefect duties, not talking to him should be quite easy…shouldn't it?

The young girl glanced at her watch and stopped. It wasn't as late as she thought it would be; everything that had happened had made it seem to her as if a lot more time had passed. Might leave some time for her to see Seamus then, she mused. Her face lit up. He should still be up, despite the fact that she had told him to go to sleep.

She entered the common room as the portrait swung to the side. Most of the younger students had already gone to sleep, but many were still crowding in the comfortable room. Hermione quickly scanned the faces in search of Seamus, but he wasn't there. Disappointed, she was about to go to her own dorm when she decided against it. Maybe he simply needed some time alone from all the stress, and he was awake lying on his bed.

All the more reason to leave him alone then wasn't it? But she couldn't fight the urge to see him. In times like these, he needed her didn't he? He shouldn't be all alone…She had told him he could count on her, tell her everything; she'd be there.

Hermione quietly pushed open the door to the boys' dorm and looked around in the dimly lit room. Quietly making her way towards Seamus' bed, she smiled at the mess and shook her head. Boys.

She found him asleep, the covers thrown off him though she knew that it was a bit too cold for that at this time of year. He got cold easily. Trying hard not to wake him, not knowing that not even a bucket of ice water would wake him in this state, she slowly covered him with his blankets. Affectionately, the young girl tousled his hair and let her fingers trail down the side of his face.

His breathing was even, and she hoped that things had started getting better for him and that he was dreaming peacefully. She would do everything she could to fix him. Hermione kneeled down next to him, entwined her fingers with his and lifted his hand to her lips. Seamus stirred, and she absent-mindedly stroked his hair.

Then, she got up and left.

At the same time, Draco was having a hard time to get Pansy off his back in the Slytherin common room, quite literally. He didn't know why he wasn't being so open and straight-forward with her as with Hermione, but maybe it was because he didn't consider her as intelligent enough to deal with the truth.

He simply wasn't interested in her. All he was doing with her was passing his time, seeing as she was the only girl who dared approach him so confidently. He knew that there were a lot of other girls he could have and who wanted him, but none of them had ever done anything to catch his eye, and he certainly wasn't going to approach one of them.

So there he had been, standing by the fire and staring into the flames, trying to sort out the way he felt when she had found him, and startled him by jumping onto his back and gripping his chest a little too tightly. He was actually finding it difficult to breathe.

"Hey Draco, it's been a while…" she whispered into his ear, then started kissing his neck. Her voice was a little too loud, her kisses a little too intimate.

"Pansy, stop." he said, tensing. She simply laughed and continued kissing him. "You know you want it too. Where have you been? I've been waiting for you."

"Detention. With Slughorn." he managed to get out between clenched teeth. He was usually patient with her, but this was just all getting too much.

"Oh." Pansy jumped off his back, and he turned around to face her. Her expression was more serious than ever, and she looked as if she was thinking about something.

"Since when do you bother going to detention?" she asked slowly. Draco had no idea what she was getting at. "It's because of her, isn't it? That filthy mudblood."

The young man simply stared at her. Was he really that easy to read? No, no that was impossible. There _was nothing to read._

"Mudblood Granger? Are you insane?" he spat. He really didn't need any of this.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" she asked, her voice suddenly too shrill for his liking. There was nothing he could say to that, either. "I know that you enjoy making her suffer. But that shouldn't come in between the two of us." She placed her hand against his cheek.

Draco stared at her for a moment, then laughed without humour. "Enjoy making her suffer" he muttered under his breath. "That would be it."

"What was that?" she asked, looking up at him and smiling sweetly. She still wasn't pretty, and she never would be.

"Oh, nothing. You're right, let's forget about this." He placed his hand on the back of her head and kisser her forehead. "Help me forget" he whispered, trying to ignore the feeling of guilt and anguish that was building up in his chest. Maybe she could offer him the comfort he so badly needed.

He pulled her down onto a sofa by the fireplace and onto his lap, his lips searching for hers hungrily, searching for a way to make everything go away. She responded eagerly and pulled him closer, trying to get her hand under his shirt.

After a few moments, Draco broke away from her.

"I can't do this now. I'm going to sleep." He got up, pushing her away gently. It wasn't her fault, but he just couldn't do this. Going up his dorm room, he lay down on his bed fully clothed.

He was just so confused. And this was definitely a mistake. It wasn't what he wanted anymore. He just didn't know what it was he wanted. He didn't even know if he wanted to find out, for fear of not liking the answer.


	9. Chapter 9

_"__I can__'__t do this now. I__'__m going to sleep.__"__ He got up, pushing her away gently. It wasn__'__t her fault, but he just couldn__'__t do this. Going up to his dorm room, he lay down on his bed fully clothed. _

_He was just so confused. And this was definitely a mistake. It wasn't what he wanted anymore. He just didn't know what it was he wanted. He didn't even know if he wanted to find out, for fear of not liking the answer._

_

* * *

_

**Chapter Nine**

Over the course of the week, Hermione's days felt pretty normal to her. She spent time with Seamus or Harry and Ron, and sometimes with Ginny and the other girls, did her work, and most of all, avoided Malfoy as best she could

It wasn't always easy as she still had classes with him and ran into him in the corridors sometimes, as well as having Prefect duties with him, but Slughorn had started pairing her up with other people, so all in all, she had a good time.

Christmas was drawing closer, and she could feel the atmosphere changing around her. It hadn't started snowing yet, which was quite strange, but it rained almost every day. She sometimes looked out of the window, trying to imagine what it would feel like on her skin, but Seamus didn't like it when she was outside.

"You could catch a cold, or worse. Just stay here with me" he always whispered into her ear, and she complied.

Hermione sighed as she looked at her timetable: Care for Magical Creatures was next, and since it wasn't raining at the moment, Hagrid wanted them to extract the venom of sunsnakes. Compared to his usual crazy ideas, this should be quite harmless. The best time for this was in winter, but it had to be done outside, on a day where the sun shone, which was why this day was perfect.

"Awright. 'vryone, listen up. I di'nt have the time teh get all of 'em snakes ready, so yeh gonna havta share. 've got sum instructions fer "interhouse unity" an' all, so one Gryffindor'll go with a Slytherin." He threw an apologetic glance at Harry, Ron and Hermione as his students groaned in unison.

"You and you, then you two…"

Hermione was silently wishing that she would not have to end up with Draco. Somehow, fate was always twisted enough to bring them together, and she really didn't want to deal with him now that everything seemed to be going so much better.

Then Hagrid assigned Draco to someone else, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hermione and Pansy" he shouted, and the young girl frowned. Was she really that much better than him to work with?

The Slytherin girl shot her a glance of pure loathing, and Hermione cringed. Maybe Malfoy wouldn't have been that much worse… Then she could at least have had some fun putting him down.

Pansy smiled icily. She would show that mudblood where she belonged. Listening to Hagrid's instructions, everyone got to work.

Hermione needed the other girl's help to keep the snake still so that she could extract the venom that was stored in its long, sharp teeth, and held it up for Pansy to grab.

"Here, right behind the head so that it can't move or bite you" she said quietly, without looking at her.

"Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?" Pansy bit back.

"I hate to break it to you, but we're not going to get this done unless we work together. Now take it" Hermione answered firmly, rolling her eyes.

Pansy took hold of the snake and looked away, as if she were bored. Her eyes found Draco, who was stuck with Longbottom. The clumsy boy was trying to lift the snake out of its box and was attempting it for the third time until Draco snatched it away from him. "That's how you do it" he drawled, holding the snake right before the other boy's face. "You like that?" he asked, wiggling it a little bit.

Pansy smiled as he looked over to her, until she realized it wasn't her he was looking at. She followed his gaze, which lead her to Hermione. The Gryffindor looked up, met his eye for a moment before looking back down.

"Stop staring at my boyfriend, mudblood" she hissed, her hand tensing dangerously around the snake's neck, if that's what you could call it.

"Stop it Pansy, you're killing it!" she yelled, trying to pry her fingers off the animal.

"I said stop staring at my boyfriend, do you hear me?"

"He's not your boyfriend!" Hermione exclaimed, then wondered what made her say that. Of course he was, and it was none of her business.

"I wasn't staring" she corrected herself. "Now let go of that snake!"

"No. You think I'm just going to let you get away that easily?" She glanced over her shoulder and saw that she now had Draco's full attention. Though he was too far away to hear what she was saying, he frowned and questioned her with his eyes. She smiled smugly and brought her attention back to Hermione.

"Stop it Pansy. Don't be stupid." Hermione instantly regretted her words as she saw the other girl's expression darken. Wrong thing to say…

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"No, of course not. Look, whatever you think it is that's going on, well, it's got nothing to do with me."

"What makes you so sure that there's something going on? There's absolutely nothing wrong with us." Her voice had risen, but still wasn't loud enough to stand out against the noise the rest of the class was making.

Hermione looked around, searching for Seamus or Harry, but both of them were busy keeping the snakes assigned to them under control. She would much rather have to confront Malfoy than deal with _this._ A jealous girlfriend or a sardonic boy? She definitely preferred the latter.

She tried again. "Don't be ridiculous. It's _Malfoy_ we're talking about, what would I be doing with him?"

"I don't know" Pansy snarled, just the way Draco usually did. "Just leave him alone!"

"I don't know what you're problem is, but I'll _gladly _leave your _precious _Draco alone!"

Hermione looked up to glare at her, and noticed a second too late that Pansy had raised her hand to hit her. She closed her eyes by reflex, but the impact never came. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes to find Ron standing before her, gripping Pansy's wrist tightly.

Looking over his shoulder, she could see Draco staring at Pansy. Next to him was Lavender, staring at Ron.

The whole class had gone quiet and was now staring at Ron, who was still holding the Slytherin's wrist, and at Hermione, a confused expression on her face.

To everyone's surprise, Lavender was the first to speak.

"Ron?" she asked hesitantly. "What are you doing?"

"She was about to hit Hermione. I couldn't let that happen!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, but Hermione's not your girlfriend" she said coldly. "He" she pointed at Seamus, "should've done that."

"But she's my best friend. What's wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with _me_? What's wrong with _you_?"

"Alright, enough." Seamus had appeared next to Hermione and put an arm around her shoulders protectively. "I appreciate you doing this, Ron" he said stiffly. "I think you can let go of her now. Are you alright, Hermione?"

The young girl nodded, unable to say anything.

Seamus turned towards Pansy. "Now I don't know what the hell you thought you were doing, but this had better not happen again."

"Or what?" Pansy sniffed, though she was now feeling uncomfortable. Now would be a good time for Draco to step in and show him.

"You'll see." He took a step back from her, taking Hermione with him.

Pansy searched for Draco, who hadn't moved. She sent him a pleading look; it wasn't too late yet for him to do something, but he simply stared back at her. It was like a slap in the face.

"Uh, class dismissed I guess" Hagrid boomed as students started dispersing. Only a few stayed behind to help him clean up. Harry went to stand next to Ron and clapped him on the back.

"Nice one, I think that showed 'em."

"You think I should go talk to Hermione?´" he inquired, unable to look at him.

"I reckon she's fine with Seamus. Though there is someone else you might wanna worry about…" he trailed off and pointed towards Lavender, who was walking away angrily.

"Lavender!" Ron yelled, running after her. "Wait up!"

Harry frowned, but then decided that the situation wasn't serious enough for him to be truly worried. He shook his head and grinned lightly; Ginny would certainly enjoy hearing about this one.

"Lavender!"

The young girl smiled for a split second but didn't slow down. She had to show him that she was no girl to mess around with, and he had better know it. Recomposing her expression, Lavender got ready to tell him exactly what she thought.

"Please wait!" Ron had caught up with her and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"What?" she asked, her tone arrogant while she played with her hair. She knew what would come next. He would beg for her forgiveneness, and she could pretend to think about it. She knew that she couldn't stay away from him, but that didn't mean she had to run after him all the time. Let the boy come to you. So after she considered it for a while, she would "finally" give in and forgive him, and Ron would spend the rest of the afternoon making up for it.

"What do you mean what?" he asked instead. "What did you want me to do? Hermione's my friend, and I'm not just going to _watch_ when I see her getting hit by that…" he trailed off, trying to look for a word that was neither too rude nor too indecent.

"So? You had no business looking at her in the first place" she said, rolling her eyes. Now he would have to tell her that he had only wanted to look at her, because she was the most beautiful girl he knew.

Ron stopped dead in his tracks, forcing her to stop as well.

"You know, I am so sick of playing your games. I'm not just _anyone_."

Lavender stared at him for a second, her mouth wide open in disbelief.

"Wait, what? I don't think I know what you mean"

"I mean exactly what I say. I have had enough."

"But. But that's not how it works. Oh, I know what you're trying to do" she suddenly said and smiled. "Aww, don't worry, I forgive you. Now you can come with me and we can forget about all of this."

"No. I'm sorry Lavender, but this is as far as I can go. I've made an idiot out of myself more often than I would like to admit. You're a nice girl and all, but this is not what I want."

"No" Lavender whispered. This couldn't be how it ended. It wasn't even that important to her. So what if that nerd was a friend of his, she was still prettier. She forced tears into her eyes; up to this moment, they had always worked on Ron.

"I'm sorry" the young man repeated. "You don't have to worry about a thing. I'll just tell everyone that you broke up with me, and they'll believe it." He gave her an apologetic smile, shrugged and walked past her.

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**Don't think I need to mention that reviews are always much appreciated :)**


	10. Chapter 10

_"__I__'__m sorry__"__ the young man repeated. __"__You don__'__t have to worry about a thing. I__'__ll just tell everyone that you broke up with me, and they__'__ll believe it.__"__ He gave her an apologetic smile, shrugged and walked past her. _

**Chapter Ten**

Hermione was still startled by Pansy's accusations. Hadn't she been staying away from Draco enough for the past week? She hadn't even talked to him during their nightly patrols, though she was sometimes tempted to start a conversation with him, which would most certainly turn into one of their play-fights.

"Hey, what are you thinking of?" Seamus asked her softly, and she wished that she could tell him, but this was something she had to deal with alone.

"What could I possibly be thinking of?" she said instead. "Not like anything interesting just happened." She smiled at him, and stroked his hair.

"I'll walk you to your next class. I'll see you later, I'll be in the common room."

"Thank you" Hermione smiled.

He smiled back at her, but at the same time was in a hurry to leave. He had received another letter from his parents this morning. His day certainly wasn't getting any better, and he could feel the pressure building up in his chest. He simply couldn't explain this to Hermione, she wouldn't understand.

Making sure that no one was in the dorm, he sat down on his bed and retrieved the letter from his bag. It had felt as if it had been getting heavier over the course of the day, which of course was insane. With shaking hands, he opened it slowly and read.

It exceeded his worst expectations by far. His father had been arrested for excessive drinking and had tried to attack his wife, who had of course used magic to defend herself. As a result, they were telling him not to bother coming home for Christmas, which had been his initial plan. It would have been a perfect opportunity to fix things.

Why him? It wasn't really his fault, was it? Though it was true that his parents had never really had a fight before he had started going to Hogwarts… Maybe it was because of him. He was the reason his parents' marriage was falling apart.

The young man looked down at the piece of paper he was holding, and closed his first around it. He could feel the sharp edges digging into his palm, and he closed his eyes and ran his other hand over his face. He had to remember all the good things now, it was important he didn't get immersed in all of his failures.

He tried to picture Hermione, her smile and her laughter, but it all seemed so distant. Without being able to stop himself, he reached under his bed and found the removable wooden plank. The only thing that felt real at the moment was the smooth surface of the glass bottle in his hand, and the heavy weight of accusation on his shoulders.

Taking a deep swig out of the bottle, he knew that he would not be able to restrain himself, but it didn't matter. He would probably be asleep by the time Hermione came back, and he would tell her about everything the next morning. That was how it worked.

But it wasn't just Seamus who was having a bad day. Draco was trying to relax in the common room after the scene Pansy had just caused in front of the whole class. And then to expect him to do anything about it, yeah right. That was what her look had meant, wasn't it?

The young man closed his eyes and sank deeper into the cushions of his favourite sofa, knowing that he would have to talk to her sooner or later.

'Rather later than sooner' he thought before drifting off to sleep. He was surprised to wake up a few hours later; a look through one of the large windows told him that the sun was already setting. He closed his eyes once again, ready to enjoy the fact that he had just woken up and that he was lying on a comfortable sofa when he heard her voice. Opening a sleepy eye, he found her standing in front of him, her arms crossed.

"How could you do that? That bookworm had all of her boyfriends running after her to protect her, and what do you do?"

Draco blinked and tried to focus his attention on Pansy. What exactly was she talking about? Then he remembered, and his initial good mood vanished.

"Why do you have to bring that up now?" he asked, and tried getting up.

"Is that all you have to say to me? Oh no you're staying here. We are going to talk this through, and you will not leave until I'm done." She pushed him back onto the sofa, and Draco, who had not been expecting such roughness from her, did nothing to stop her.

"Alright then, if that's what you want" he finally said, after she had been staring at him for longer than just a moment.

"How could you do that? I thought you'd be there for me" Pansy whispered, and Draco looked up at her to discover tears glistening in her eyes. That was definitely nothing he was ready to deal with; he hadn't even realized that it meant that much to her.

He scratched his head and opened his mouth. "Uhm…" he started, but could think of nothing to say. His eyes flitted across the room, while he was trying to look for something that might distract her and buy him some more time, but there was absolutely nothing there.

"Why can't you just admit that you should've done something today? And then you didn't even come looking for me to talk about it. I was waiting."

"I fell asleep…" was all he managed, definitely feeling uncomfortable now. She was supposed to be there for him when he needed comfort, not the other way round. He was a Malfoy and had a right to that. Though he hadn't needed her in the past few weeks because it felt to him as if he was looking for something else, she could not expect him to stand up for anything she stood in for. Hadn't he been clear enough?

"Why are you so selfish?" she shrieked.

"Haven't you noticed? It's who I am."

"Why are you trying so hard to be like your father?"

Draco froze. She had no idea what she was saying. This was well beyond her. His father was a shadow in his mind, constantly lurking in the corners of his consciousness, forcing him to do things he wasn't ready to do. But that was how he had been brought up.

He was about to answer her when her expression suddenly changed.

"Forget it Draco. I thought… Well, to say that you were different from that would be a lie. But I thought you might change, just a little, just for… me. Guess I was wrong."

She turned to leave, but at that moment Draco found his voice.

"Pansy… Wait." It took all of his self-control to keep his voice even.

She faced him once again, he could see the insane hope shimmering in her eyes, behind all of the hurt and tears. This might be his chance to make it better for her.

But he knew he couldn't do that. He knew that deep inside, he was too selfish to do anything that caused him too much discomfort.

She stared at him for a long moment, and he was trying to think of something that would make it easier.

"Don't take this too hard. Don't worry, you'll get there in the end."

Pansy simply looked at him, as if trying to take in what he was trying to tell her. Then she sneered, and Draco knew that she had understood.

"This is not the end" she threatened. "I'll find her, and I'll show her, whoever she is. She will not take you away from me." With those words, she stormed off.

It was Draco's turn to gape at her. She really thought that this was about another girl?

Ridiculous.

The young Slytherin got up and slowly made his way through the common room. It wasn't too late yet for him to be out and about since he was a Prefect, and he needed to clear his head.

He aimlessly walked through the corridors and reached the Moving Staircase, where he looked down. A few stories below him, Hermione was walking in an opposite direction.

'What's Granger up to now?' he wondered, and decided to follow her. She might distract him from the conversation he just had with Pansy, and her last words for him.

Some other girl. Yeah right.


	11. Chapter 11

'_What__'__s Granger up to now?__'__ he wondered, and decided to follow her. She might distract him from the conversation he just had with Pansy, and her last words for him._

_Some other girl. Yeah right._

**Chapter Eleven**

Hermione could not believe it. Distraught, she was now aimlessly wandering through the corridors, the same scene playing in her head, over and over again. She had no idea where she was going, she just had to get out of the common room. Catch some air. Who knew.

_Hermione's class had ended early. She had been allowed to leave as soon as she had finished writing her essay, and that meant that she had quite a bit of time to see Seamus before dinner. _

_She smiled at the thought. Entering the common room, she looked out for him but could not find him anywhere. That was odd. _

"_Parvati, have you seen Seamus?" she asked after having made sure that he really wasn't there. _

"_Uh yeah I saw him going up to the dorm like, half an hour ago maybe. Could've been an hour though. Or 45 minutes. Who am I to know? He looked tired though you know, maybe he's sleeping. But what do I know." _

_Hermione gave her a half-smile and thanked her before slowly making her way upstairs. What could he possibly be doing upstairs? Maybe Parvati was right and he _was_ asleep, but it couldn't hurt to check. _

_Trying to be as quiet as possible, the young girl snuck up to Seamus' bed, where she could see him sitting down with his back facing the door. What exactly was he doing? _

_She stood there for a moment, taking in the slump of his shoulders and his overall cramped position. Didn't take a genius to figure out that something was wrong. _

"_Seamus?" _

_The young man whirled around, a whole array of emotions playing across his face. Shock, guilt, anger, fear. _

"_What's wrong?"_

"_Hermione?" he mumbled, but there was something wrong with his voice. The young girl didn't like it. _

_Then her eyes fell on the piece of paper that was lying on his pillow, and she frowned. _

"_Another letter? What does it say?" _

"_I'm not going home for Christmas" Seamus said somberly. _

"_What do you mean… I'm so sorry. Do you want to talk about it?" She looked around, then decided that nothing she could say would make it better right now. She leaned over to hug him, but he remained still. Softly, she turned towards him to kiss him on the cheek. _

_Hitting her right in the face was the distinct smell of alcohol. She drew away, searching his face for an answer._

"_Seamus…" she whispered, gently. _

"_No. I don't want to hear it." He closed his eyes and drew in a sharp breath. _

"_Give me that bottle" Hermione said firmly as she saw him lift it to his lips. He didn't do anything of the sort and drank. Reaching over his shoulder, she tried to grab it from him but was stopped as he grabbed both of her wrists with one hand and held her back._

"_Let me go" she said sharply, her eyes burning into his with intensity._

"_Why?" He took another swig. He seemed unable to think clearly._

"_I need some air" she gasped, suddenly afraid. _

"_But you're coming back, yeah?" he asked, suddenly not so sure anymore._

"_I'll think about it."_

_He released her, and Hermione almost ran from him. Hadn't it all been getting better? She felt like she barely knew him anymore. _

And that was how she had wound up walking through the hallways of Hogwarts. She paid no attention to where she was going, she just needed to move, get away, and think.

Malfoy swore under his breath as he lost sight of the Gryffindor.

'Stupid moving staircases' he thought as he turned a corner. He needed the distraction, and for some reason Hermione seemed like the perfect opportunity to make himself feel better. He hated how she had been avoiding him for the past week, and hated himself even more for thinking that way. Draco merely shrugged. It was a vicious circle.

He turned another corner, running straight into someone. He swore again.

"Ouch" the girl exclaimed, and before Draco could move, she had landed on the floor. Admittedly, it looked quite painful, and he couldn't help but smile. Wasn't it good to be a Malfoy sometimes?

"You seem to be making a habit out of that, Granger. First on the stairs, now here."

Hermione slowly got up and shook her head. This was the last thing she needed, and she hoped Malfoy would leave her alone.

Ignoring him, the young girl brushed some imaginary dust off her skirt and swiftly walked past him.

For a second, Draco simply stood there, but then decided that he would not be treated like that. Besides, hadn't he been looking for her? Now that he had found her, he might as well ruin her evening. Or so he told himself.

"Is it really too much to ask of you to leave me alone for just one day?!" Hermione exploded.

"I don't remember having had the opportunity to harass you in the past few days. I think I deserve this."

"_Deserve_" Hermione snorted. "And what about making your girlfriend attack me in class today?"

How she had found the time to remember that incident still remained a mystery to her, with all the other things she had on her mind, but it didn't matter. She just wanted to be alone.

"She's not my girlfriend" Draco responded automatically, shaking his head.

"That's not the impression I get, you know. But really, I don't care. Just make sure that next time, whatever goes on between the two of you, I'm left out of it. I have enough problems of my own."

"Mudblood Granger, problems? Isn't your life perfect in every way?"

She snorted again.

"Please." She seemed to think about something else to say, but then kept her mouth shut. Without realising it, she had adjusted her pace to his, and they were now casually walking through the castle. It wasn't exactly a friendly conversation, but she figured that it was better than to be alone with her thoughts.

They walked in silence and Hermione tried to concentrate on the sound that their footsteps were making, resonating back from the cold stone walls surrounding them.

"So why are you here, Malfoy?" she asked, trying to sound uninterested.

"I could ask you the same thing" he replied curtly, looking straight at her. His dark eyes held hers for a few moments.

"I bet your girlfriend's looking for you."

It had the effect she had aimed for. His eyes narrowed and he glared at her.

"Besides, don't you have something better to do than walking through corridors at night with someone like me? Something like, I don't know, going after girls that aren't yours?"

He clenched his jaw. "You don't know a thing about me. So if I were you, I'd keep those thoughts to myself if you don't want to get hurt really bad."

Hermione felt all of her anger and frustration boiling up, taking up the challenge. "I'm not scared of you, you know" she replied darkly.

"Is that so?" he snarled, not looking at her.

"That is so. Now please, I think…" She had meant to say that they should turn back as they were walking towards a dead end, but was interrupted before she could say so.

"Oh no!" Draco swore under his breath before pulling her behind a nearby statue. Hermione tripped, but he caught her arm and held her up, his grip painfully strong on her skin. He was now towering above her, pushing her against the wall. His body wasn't touching hers, but he was way too close for comfort.

"Are you insane?!" she shrieked, but he covered her mouth with a strong hand before she could finish that sentence.

"For once, just listen to me and _shut up, _alright?" The intensity of his words caught her off guard, and she immediately stood still. Her eyes were wide with surprise, but he simply stood there without moving.

Voices were heard at the end of the corridor, and they were unmistakably coming closer. There was no way they could get out behind the statue without being seen. Maybe they were just walking by… But that was of course nonsense, since this was a dead end. There was only a big painting on the wall at the end of this hallway.

Draco had slowly stepped back from her and was now kneeling beside the statue. He drew his wand and muttered a few words she couldn't hear, and a small opening appeared at the base of the statue.

He grinned, obviously satisfied and looked up at her. Hermione couldn't help but notice the mischievous glint in his eyes, and her fear at being discovered vanished.

With a lazy flick of his hand, the young Slytherin motioned for her to follow him before disappearing in the dark opening. With a quick look back, Hermione decided that this couldn't be as bad as having to listen to a teacher telling her off for wandering around late at night.

"Where are we going?" she whispered, waiting for eyes to adjust to the darkness. She could discern Draco's silhouette walking in front of her, but she had lost all orientation after a few turns. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure about this anymore. Was this really such a good idea? Who knew what he was doing; he might just leave her after one of those endless turns, and she'd be alone in the dark…

"Just wait" came the short reply before Draco fell silent again. It seemed as if he knew exactly where he was going.

Hermione forced herself not to show her distress and straightened up. After a few more minutes of complete silence, a strong, familiar scent wafted through the air. Slightly sweet, but also bitter and strangely attractive.

Draco stopped right in front of her, and she almost ran into him. He started messing with a trap door that she hadn't seen at first, and probably wouldn't have noticed on her own. He let himself through it without looking back to see whether she would follow, and disappeared.

Hermione sighed, but at the same time was curious to see where he was leading her. The smell was getting stronger, and she found it wonderful. She pulled herself up and into a dark room full of vague outlines that looked like bags and containers.

Draco had already sat down in front of one of them and unscrewed a small jar that contained…marbles? He picked one out, examined it and popped it into his mouth.

_Honeydukes_. That was why the smell seemed so familiar.

Hermione looked around in wonder, and from the corner of her eyes, she could see that Malfoy was grinning slightly. She relaxed, then looked at him and frowned.

"You should pay for these you know."

His grin disappeared, and he popped another "marble" into his mouth. Looking more closely, Hermione realised they were caramel witch eyes.

"And they should close this trap door" he replied as if that gave him the right to simply take whatever he wanted.

He threw an eye at her and snorted when it hit her on the cheek. She shot him a dirty look and got up to inspect the surroundings.

"Lighten up" he advised, reaching for another jar. "I rarely come here, and not many people know about this. I don't actually think anyone does" he mused. "But if that goes against your principles, don't take any of it."

Hermione picked up a jar filled with jelly lizards, and watched in fascination as one of them lazily opened an eye, yawned and went back to sleep.

"Can we just go?" she asked absentmindedly, though she wasn't so sure anymore if she wanted to leave. So many colours, textures, flavours…

"Be my guest. I'm not one to hold you back if you want to go." Malfoy was examining the shelves just like she was, but frowned when he couldn't find what he was looking for.

"Oh my _god_!" Hermione exclaimed, and Draco whirled around in alarm. She had opened a jar of butterfingers and bitten off a piece.

"These are great" she said enthusiastically while Draco shuddered in disgust. They were so _sticky_ and actually looked like human fingers.

"That is actually disgusting" he snorted. Before he could react, Hermione had thrown one at him which hit him on the cheek and _stuck there._

"Look, you have something on your face, and it sure as hell isn't pretty."

Draco tore it off his face and reached for the jar closest to him. A label read "fizzy worms", and he smiled wickedly. Ducking, he ran closer to her, another butterfinger missing him by inches.

He opened the jar, grabbed a handful and flung it towards her. The worms stuck to her robes, but to his surprise, Hermione didn't squeal or scream. He knew that most girls would have. Instead, she grinned, reached into a different jar and threw sweet powder at him.

It stuck to his face and hair, and he growled. Hermione laughed and sat down.

"You have no idea how ridiculous you look right now" she breathed, but instead of feeling angry, his mood lifted and he went to sit down in front of her. He shook his head and powder flew everywhere, so that she had to lift her arm and shield her eyes.

"Watch it!" she laughed before looking around thoughtfully. Somehow, she felt strange, light and careless. She wasn't feeling like herself, and a look into Malfoy's eyes told her that he wasn't either. He looked somewhat dazed.

She shrugged it off as a new fit of laughter took hold of her and she could barely restrain herself. 'There must've been something in that powder' she contemplated, but then that thought vanished from her mind and she was left with comfortable idleness.

"There's something on your face. It's not pretty, either" Malfoy quoted and leaned forward as if to brush it off her face. Hermione remained still, and he pinched her nose. "Sorry about that" he snorted, and the young girl glared.

"That wasn't nice" she sniffed and stood up to get another jar. She could really get used to all of these sweets.

"Strawberry snakes" she read. "I'll have one of these…"

She reached into the jar, then pulled it back out as she felt its contents wriggle. Looking at it, she could see a long, shiny snake. It was bright red and rather soft, and looked as if it was made of a very long string of jelly. Even its eyes, tongue and fangs were red and soft.

Draco reached into the container and held his hand there. A few moments later, the snake had rolled itself around his forearm and hissed, obviously comfortable.

"Hey, give me that" Hermione whined, and if she hadn't been so carefree at the moment, she would've been appalled at her tone of voice. She threw herself at him, and he was too slow to fend her off. They ended up as a heap on the floor, Hermione on top of Draco.

They stared at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing. She rolled off of him and lay down next to him, staring up at the ceiling. It was a comfortable silence, but that gave Hermione too much space to think.

"Hey, what's an effective way of shutting someone up?" she asked, her thoughts going in circles.

Draco sat up and turned towards her. Then, in a quick movement she could barely follow, he was above her, looking into her eyes. All she could see was his face, and his stormy grey eyes.

"Like this" he whispered, and Hermione tensed.

Her mind was too clouded to make sense of what he was saying. Like this?

And then he reached for her face and stuffed a piece of chocolate into her mouth. Hermione almost choked and started laughing. He joined into her laughter, quietly, and was unable to take his eyes off her face.

Hermione found a fizzy worm on her robe, moved closer to Draco and forced it into his mouth. Her fingers brushed against his lips; they were warm, and softer than she had expected. He looked up at her from under his eyelashes, his smoldering eyes burning her. His hair was tousled, and she caught herself staring.

"We should get going" she suddenly said, turning away to hide the fact that her cheeks were turning bright red.

"Yes, we should" he said lightly. He uttered a spell and a few moments later, the jars had found their respective places on the shelves; it looked as if they had never been taken away. This definitely wasn't Draco's first time in the cellar of Honeydukes. He carefully put the strawberry snake back into its jar and put it away.

Quietly, they both made their way to the trap door and back into the tunnel. Hermione could feel the effect of the powder wearing off and cold reality returning with full force. She would be extremely tired tomorrow.

As they reached the statue, they found the corridor deserted. Draco barely acknowledged her presence. He looked at her over his shoulder, frowned and left her there. Hermione hadn't expected any better from him and went straight back to the common room. Too exhausted to do anything else, she fell into bed and was out in a moment.

* * *

**Note: I want to thank everyone who reviewed this story so far, despite the fact that I haven't been regularly updating. You're great readers and I appreciate all the support I can get. Constructive criticism is as always very welcome :)  
**

**I particularly want to thank _GoldenShadowLeaf _for leaving me such long comments on my other stories, and I would reply with a pm if they had signed in :P Thank you :)**


	12. Chapter 12

_As they reached the statue, they found the corridor deserted. Draco barely acknowledged her presence. He looked at her over his shoulder, frowned and left her there. Hermione hadn__'__t expected any better from him and went straight back to the common room. Too exhausted to do anything else, she fell into bed and was out in a moment. _

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 12**

Hermione awoke, dazzling daylight pouring in from the windows. She sat up slowly and stretched before realising that the light was unnaturally bright. Wasn't it supposed to be a winter morning? Her head snapped up and she stared at the alarm clock placed on her bedside table.

The young girl groaned, fell back against her pillows and pulled the blanket all the way up to cover her face. She had overslept.

Throwing the covers to the ground, Hermione sleepily put her feet on the floor and was about to stand up when she noticed a note, right next to her alarm clock.

_Saw you sleeping, tried to wake you but no response. Told McGonagall you weren__'__t feeling well and she said she__'__ll be expecting you in next week, __"__well rested__"__. _

_Not that you__'__ll miss anything during lessons, you already know it all. _

_Enjoy your day off (gosh I wish I were you right now) _

_Ginny xx_

Hermione smiled, but stood up and started getting dressed. Now that she had some time for herself, she'd rather not waste it in bed. Should she go to the library first?

Slowly, last night's events came back to her, but they felt like a distant, hazy dream. Had she really done all of those things? While changing, she had thrown last night's robes on the floor; she picked them up and examined them. Surely enough, she found traces of sweet powder on them.

All the while, Draco was sitting in potions class, wondering why Hermione wasn't there. During breakfast, Ginny had told Harry and Ron that she had found her fast asleep and didn't want to wake her.

"She deserves a day off, don't you think?"

"What do you think is up with her nowadays? She's been quiet."

"I heard it's something to do with Seamus. Remember the other day, they weren't talking to each other? Apparently, there's something wrong with his family…"

"He better not take it out on her" Ron interjected. Harry and Ginny exchanged looks.

"Speaking of which, there he is. He doesn't look good, does he?"

"I think I'm going to talk to him later. Should I?"

"What are you gonna say? Hey, you look horrible today, what's up?"

"Uh. Something like that?"

"Alright you two, it's late. Shouldn't you get going?" Ginny interjected, rolling her eyes. Boys.

"Yeah you're right. See you later" Harry grinned.

And so they had wound up in potions class, Malfoy sitting a few rows behind them, boring holes into the back of their heads with his eyes. At the same time, he really didn't know why he wanted to know so badly where she was. She had gotten back to the common room safely, hadn't she?

The fact that everyone was partnered up with someone else to make a potion today and that he was on his own wasn't helping, at all. He was throwing ingredients into his cauldron listlessly, stirring occasionally.

"Mr Malfoy!"

Draco looked up impatiently.

"That's three times I've called your name now! Will you please watch what you're doing?" Slughorn sounded irritated today, but Draco didn't have the will to care. He went on stirring until the potion started bubbling.

"Great" he muttered. He was pretty sure that it wasn't supposed to do that.

"Uhm, sir" he managed to say before the contents of the cauldron suddenly bubbled over and then splashed out, hitting the ceiling and spilling on the floor.

Draco tried jumping out of the way, but some of the seething liquid hit him right in the chest, and he suppressed a scream. No need to act up because of a small burn, right? It just really _stung_. He sat down on a table that hadn't been hit and closed his eyes while students around him started talking agitatedly. Two girls approached him and asked if he was alright, but he waved them off impatiently and got up, feeling unsteady on his feet.

And all of a sudden, Pansy was standing in front of him. Where had she come from? Draco vaguely remembered that she was in the same class and that he should've known that. She had been ignoring him since the beginning of the lesson and now she was…here. In fact, he hadn't seen her since last night. They had had an argument. His chest stung so much, everything was blurry. He remembered having a red snake curled around his forearm. Hadn't he been making a potion? She was smiling, throwing powder at him. It all splashed onto the floor, burning hot. And then…?

Voices were rushing around him, blurring together.

"Hey look, he looks like he's about to pass out."

"Always acting up, isn't he?"

"Is it really that bad?"

"Well, that's Malfoy for you."

And that was it.

Draco woke up in a quiet room. Why was he here? He turned his head to the side, focusing on the window at the far end of the room. He noticed the unusual brightness of the light, white swirling forms… '_Snow_' he realised.

"Ah, there you are" Mrs Pomfrey entered the room. "You've been out for just an hour, gave me time to heal that nasty burn of yours. It had started eating your insides, you know. What did you put in there, really…" She seemed distracted, but continued chatting on. "Now off you go, I can already see that you'll have no problems. And don't go back to lessons today" she gave him a stern look.

"Sure" Draco muttered. He stood up and left, wondering what to do with himself now. He was still disoriented, but remembered enough to know that he wouldn't enjoy making more potions anytime soon.

"Draco!" a voice behind him called. "I was so worried about you… I wanted to sit by you and wait for you to wake up, but she told me to wait outside. How are you feeling?"

Pansy hugged him tightly.

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked before he could stop himself. He knew he was being horrible, but he couldn't help it. His mind refused to focus on anything, he needed some air. It was as if he was looking for someone, just didn't know who. And Pansy was definitely not the one.

"I was worried about you" Pansy repeated.

"What happened to what you said yesterday? Aren't you supposed to ignore me?"

Pansy grew thoughtful. "I'm confused."

Draco was tempted to roll his eyes. "Pansy, please. I need to go. I don't know if this is a good idea right now."

"You won't be happy with anyone but me, you know that don't you?" she said scornfully.

"I need some time alone." He left her standing and walked aimlessly through the castle. It was fairly empty, since pretty much everyone was having classes.

Draco decided to go outside and enjoy the snow before too many students decided to have a snowball fight. As fun as it might be to throw balls of hardened snow into other people's faces, it would just mess up his hair.

Hermione had had similar thoughts, though more pacifistic than the Slytherin's. She had borrowed a book from the library and sat down under a tree, but for the first time in goodness knew how long, she found it difficult to concentrate on the written text. Too much was going on in her mind, and she longed to talk to someone about it, but there was just no one there. No one would understand the sudden closeness she was feeling towards Malfoy, or the large space that had appeared between her and Seamus.

Hermione gave up and shut the book. It was too nice a day to just sit there and read, anyway. She got up and started walking towards the lake, feeling her fingertips go numb under the cold wind. Small snowflakes were still falling from the sky, slowly and peacefully.

Ahead of her, Hermione spotted a person. Shouldn't everyone be in class right now? She walked closer, and realised that it was Malfoy.

The young girl stopped dead in her tracks and considered turning around. It seemed as if wherever she went, she would find him. Or he would find her. Life had twisted ways of entertaining itself, really. Hermione was about to leave, but then Draco kneeled down in the snow and started doing…_something_.

On anyone else, Hermione would instantly have recognised it, but the idea of Malfoy building a snow castle was so unfamiliar, so strange, that she stood there for a few minutes, simply looking.

He first made a large mound of snow, piling more and more on top of it until he seemed to be satisfied. He then strengthened the bases to keep it from collapsing sideways, then started hollowing the central structure out. He seemed to know what he was doing, and Hermione smiled. Almost against her will, she walked closer until Draco heard her footsteps and turned around.

"Mudblood, what are you doing here?"

"Just passing, ferret. I see your childhood wasn't as desolate as I had always thought, but that you also knew how to have fun."

Draco paused for a second, considering her words. He would never admit to her that what she considered to be fun had always been a competition for him. He had always wanted to please his father, always tried to build the biggest, most complex and intricate snow castle for him. That was also true for all of the other things he did, was it a spell, a Quidditch match or his grades. He had always wanted to make his father proud.

He nodded, then continued working on his structure.

After a few moments of consideration, Hermione sat down at a comfortable distance, and watched.

"Why are you still here?"

"Yesterday, you wouldn't leave me alone. Today is my turn."

"I wasn't leaving you alone? I'm not sure that's how it really went" he snorted.

Hermione shrugged and didn't answer. She was having a good day, and wasn't actually looking for a confrontation. She was happy just to sit there and let him distract her from unpleasant thoughts involving Seamus. But how was he going to distract her from unpleasant thoughts concerning him?

She started playing with the snow that was by her feet, making a small heap of snow with her hands. After a while, she had to stop because the cold was burning her skin.

"Don't your hands hurt?" she asked Draco when she looked up and realised that he was using his bare hands.

"Yes, they do."

"What's the trick then?"

"The trick is not minding that it hurts."

**(A/N: The last two lines are a quote from the film "Lawrence of Arabia".)**

"You're crazy" Hermione chuckled.

"Glad you noticed."

Hermione wondered what her friends would say if they knew how much time she had spent with Malfoy in the past couple of weeks. Or even, what they would say if they found out how much she enjoyed those times. It was in a way refreshing, and unexpected. How long would that go well?

"So tell me, how's it going with your precious Finnigan?"

Hermione's good mood vanished.

"I don't see how that's any of your business. How's it going with your _precious girlfriend_?"

"Very well, _thank you_" he lied.

"So she is your girlfriend?" Hermione asked, at the same time wondering why she cared. And why she felt oddly betrayed.

"Is mudblood Granger really interested in knowing?"

Hermione stood up.

"Who do you think you are?" she hissed.

"I know exactly who I am. But who do you think _you_ are?"

Hermione couldn't reply. How had he gone from quite friendly to snotty and arrogant in less than 10 seconds? Obviously, this wasn't meant to go well at all. It had been a mistake to open up to him so much.

Hermione turned around and walked away. She would make sure to stay away from him in the future.

* * *

**This might seem like a useless filler chapter. But they have to have a fight. You'll see why soon :)**


	13. Chapter 13

_Hermione couldn__'__t reply. How had he gone from quite friendly to snotty and arrogant in less than 10 seconds? Obviously, this wasn__'__t meant to go well at all. It had been a mistake to open up to him so much._

_Hermione turned around and walked away. She would make sure to stay away from him in the future. _

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 13**

The two weeks before the winter break passed, and everyone was busy with preparations of all sorts. Setting up decorations, writing letters and cards, packing, cleaning up, learning and teaching Christmas songs, going to Hogsmeade to buy presents. Everyone had something to do.

Hermione barely noticed how time passed, and with slight regret sent her parents a letter that told them that she wouldn't come home for Christmas this time. She was staying to look after Seamus, who had been told by his parents to stay at Hogwarts.

Seamus had been very quiet lately. He barely spoke about his problems, and Hermione found it hard to stay near him at times. She wanted to be there for him, like she promised, but he was making it very difficult for her to do this with a smile. He never really talked to her, rarely smiled, and she felt dragged down by something that was neither her fault nor really any of her business. She cared because she cared about Seamus, but there was a limit.

On the last weekend before everyone who was going home left, they all planned an outing to Hogsmeade. Seamus was being particularly difficult that morning, so Hermione had told them to go ahead and that she would follow. They were now sitting on his bed, in the boys' dorm room.

"What's wrong, Seamus? It would be nice to see you smiling again. I'm sure that Hogsmeade won't be all that bad."

"You don't understand, Hermione. It's difficult. So difficult."

"I know… I'm here for you. But maybe for things to get better… You have to want them to get better."

"You think I _want_ it to be like this?" His voice had slightly risen, and Hermione found it hard to contain herself.

"Look Seamus, what you're doing is selfish. It's not my fault."

"Alright. Alright, I know. I'm sorry, I'm trying."

"I know you're trying. It's alright."

"Think you can leave me alone for a minute? I'm going to write a letter to my parents and ask them how everything is. I should've done that ages ago, but couldn't get myself to do it."

"Sure" Hermione kissed him lightly on the lips. "I'll be back in a bit."

On the way out, she was wondering if she could classify Seamus as whiny, or if it was just self-pity that made him act that way. She shook her head. She couldn't remember the last time she had really enjoyed spending time with him. But breaking up with him now would be cruel. He needed as much support as he could get.

Half an hour later, Hermione went back to see Seamus. Really, she shouldn't have.

At around the same time, Malfoy was sitting on a window sill, looking out on the snow covered park. He was staying in Hogwarts, apparently his father didn't deem it safe for him to come home this time. Draco didn't mind.

Pansy was going home, as were most of his friends. They were currently in Hogsmeade, probably starting snowball fights with Potter and Weasley, and maybe also Granger. Again, Draco didn't mind. He was in a strange mood, calm by the looks of it, careless on the whole, but a cold rage was boiling beneath the surface. He didn't know why, but he was feeling restless, longing to pick a fight.

He didn't know how long he just sat there before he jumped off the window sill. He was wasting his time, wasn't he. Maybe that was what was making him restless.

He started walking when someone ran into him. _'__Whoever it is, is going to have hell to pay__'_he thought, annoyed. And he realised that it was Granger. He smirked inwardly. She was the only person who ran into him anyway, and he hadn't seen her since that day in the snow.

"Watch where you're going" he snarled. These words were oddly familiar, it felt as if he had said them to her at least a dozen times, though that was impossible.

Hermione shied away from his touch and tried walking past him, not looking him in the eye.

"I'm talking to you" he said sharply, and grabbed her shoulder to keep her from getting past him. It was more of a reflex reaction than a voluntary one, but he was too annoyed to care. Her eyes widened in shock and she stared right at him. He could see panic in her eyes, she seemed so fragile, so vulnerable, like a hunted animal who had nowhere to go.

He noticed how she was pressing her right arm against her chest, her hand clasped around her forearm. She looked so pale.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and she bit her lip. It looked as if she was trying hard not to cry.

"Leave me alone" she choked out, but it sounded strange, raspy.

Draco was considering whether he should get angry or just do what she wanted and leave her alone, but to his surprise he found that his rage had subsided.

Without warning, he gently tried to pull her left hand from where it was resting on her right arm, but she whimpered and only pressed it tighter against her chest. Draco didn't stop to take notice, but continued tugging.

"Silly mudblood" he said under his breath, but she heard him. He didn't mean it as an insult, this time it was more of a habitual reprimand.

Tears were forming in her eyes and she turned her face away. Finally, she let go of her own arm and Draco realised that her sleeve was soaked in red. Horror coursed through him. Why was she _bleeding_?

"Are you happy now?" she yelled, her voice too loud, too shrill. Tears were streaming down her face, and she looked at him accusingly, as if he was the one who had done it.

"I asked you, are you happy? Does this look like dirty blood to you? Is it any different from yours? Do I deserve being called names?"

He just stood there staring at her, and she could see every emotion clearly written on his face. Shock, regret, anger, _pain. _He was feeling pain for her, and for what she was going through.

And he was so sorry, wanted her to forgive him any pain he had ever caused her, wanted to make it all go away. But most of all, he was angry. She tried to tear herself from his grip, but he wouldn't let her go, was staring at her bloodied sleeve, the dark red stain that was spreading slowly.

"This was Finnigan, wasn't it?" he asked darkly, ready to tear the boy apart. And as sudden realisation hit, Draco's anger grew. "That bruise on your face. That was him too."

Hermione wanted to shake her head, but then nodded. There was no point in lying now. Draco looked highly displeased, and frowned.

"Let's see then."

Before Hermione could do anything, he slowly pulled her sleeve up, only to reveal a nasty gash. It was bleeding profusely, and he breathed in sharply.

"How did this happen?"

Hermione couldn't tell him, simply looked at him. Her face looked even whiter than before. It obviously hurt quite a bit.

Draco gently lifted her off the floor and placed her on the window sill he had just been sitting on. He drew his wand and pointed it at the wound. Closing his eyes, he recited a spell and waited. Hermione could feel the warmth flowing from his wand and onto her skin, and a prickly sensation as she felt her flesh heal.

She had wanted to go to the nurse, but this worked too. Hermione closed her eyes and was relaxing into Draco's comforting touch; he had placed his left hand on her shoulder, and as he was concentrating, he had tilted his head closer to her.

After a long while, Hermione opened her eyes. Her arm was pulsating with new energy, and she smiled tentatively.

"You didn't have to do this" she said quietly, and tried to push past him. He didn't move, and she looked up. Their eyes met; Hermione froze, startled. His stormy grey eyes were soft, deep, entrancing.

Hermione's heart started beating faster. She only just realised how close he was actually standing to her, his legs brushing against hers. She could smell his scent, heat was radiating off his skin, and Hermione wanted nothing more but for him to hold her tightly, to give her the feeling everything would be alright. She knew that she'd be safe with him. It was insane.

Finally, he broke the silence.

"Tell me what happened."

Hermione started talking, slowly at first, but then the words were just spilling out of her. She didn't know why she was confiding in him, of all people, but it was so good to finally get those things off her chest. And she was so confused…It was all suddenly too much.

"He's having problems with his family. Recently, he started drinking as well.. He's the violent kind… I don't really know how it happened."

She really didn't, but she was trying hard to remember.

"_Seamus, I__'__m back__"__ Hermione called, but got no answer. She had given him a bit more than half an hour to write his letter, and had gone on a small walk through the castle. She wished she could be with Harry and Ron, but decided not to think about it too much. She just missed spending time with them, laughing with them…_

"_There you are__"__ Seamus replied thickly, and turned towards her. Hermione instantly recognised that something was wrong. _

"_Oh, Seamus…__"__ she whispered. He had been drinking again. In her absence, he had managed to empty a whole bottle of fire whisky and was now holding it up for her to see. _

"_Come here__"__ he said in a slur, and she obeyed, not knowing why. Everything inside of her was screaming to leave, but she couldn__'__t. _

"_Give me that__"__ she ordered, holding out her hand. _

"_No. You can__'__t take that from me.__"__ His eyes were trying to focus on her face, but he was obviously out of it. _

"_Seamus. Give me the bottle.__"__ Hermione was trying to remain calm and somehow managed to keep her hand from shaking. She hadn__'__t gone through so much with Harry just to get scared in a situation like that. _

"_No__"__ he repeated, and threw his arm backwards to get it out of reach. His motion was uncontrolled, and the bottle hit the wall behind him and shattered. He was left with the bottle neck and some sharp, nasty looking edges. _

"_Now look what you__'__ve done__"__ he said heatedly, and took a step in her direction. Hermione was too slow to react; he was in front of her in a flash, and she held her arm up to protect her face. _

"_I__'__m not going to hurt you.__"__ His voice was rough and flat. He reached for her arm but she shied away, so he used his other hand. He was still holding the broken bottle, and suddenly, a sharp pain shot up her right arm. _

_He stopped and simply stared at her, trying to understand what had just happened. Hermione didn__'__t give him time to do or say anything else, but simply ran. _

Draco swore under his breath.

"Filthy Gryffindors" he muttered, then realised what he had just said. He hoped she hadn't heard him, but a quick glance into her eyes destroyed that illusion in an instant.

"I'm going to kill him."

"No. No, don't do anything. I don't know why I told you all of this anyway…"

"I don't know either. You could've just gone to your precious Potter. But I do know that I'm going to have to do something about this."

"But why? Why do you care?"

"No one ever said I did. But whenever a Slytherin gets the opportunity to hurt one of his enemies… Well, why not?"

But he knew that he was lying. He cared, he cared more than he wanted to admit, he cared so much that it hurt. He would destroy that worthless boy, for repeatedly having hurt her. He looked at Hermione, and knew that he had made his decision.

He wouldn't strike immediately. He would wait for the perfect opportunity. A lot of people would be going home, and then Finnigan would not be able to hide behind any of his so-called friends. If it were up to him, he would go and find him now, but he was most probably in the Gryffindor common room. Besides, it was only half the fun to beat up someone who was drunk.

"Stay away from him" Hermione whispered. "It's none of your business."

Then, she jumped off the window sill and disappeared around the corner. Draco shrugged. Even if it wasn't any of his business.

He would make it his business.

* * *

**Voila :) **

**Finally.**


	14. Chapter 14

"_Stay away from him__"__ Hermione whispered. __"__It__'__s none of your business.__"_

_Then, she jumped off the window sill and disappeared around the corner. Draco shrugged. Even if it wasn__'__t any of his business. He would make it his business. _

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 14**

In the course of the next few days, Hermione did all she could to avoid contact with her friends. Harry, Ron and Ginny had left, and those who stayed stopped asking her if she wanted to go out with them when she didn't stop giving the standard excuse: the library.

She didn't actually stay there, but usually borrowed a book and then wandered the school corridors before choosing an empty classroom and settling down to read. Considering that she was sharing the same common room with Seamus, she thought that she was doing a good job at staying away from him.

Hermione was relieved to see that Malfoy hadn't actually done anything about Seamus, at the same time as she was a little disappointed. But it was better to keep this issue as small as possible.

She was just about to leave the library with another book for the day when a small Gryffindor boy she had forgotten the name of came running towards her.

"Hermione, come quick! There's something I think you should see!"

He ran ahead, and she followed, hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was.

At first, all she could see was a large crowd. Were there really so many students left in the school? They were all divided into their houses, possibly a subconscious division. The boys were shouting, some had theirs fists up in the air. The girls looked at each other, giggling, hands covering their mouths.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Hermione pushed through the mass of people, desperately trying to get to the centre. From where she was standing, she could see the back of Draco's head, his platinum blonde hair reflecting the sun. Opposite him was Seamus, wiping blood from his lower lip with his fist. He looked at the Slytherin angrily.

"What's your problem, Malfoy? I've done nothing to you."

"It's not about me. You know what you've done" Draco spat.

"We can solve this without a fight."

"Only a coward backs out of a situation like this."

"So what you gonna do huh? What you gonna do?"

"What am I gonna do?" Draco asked threateningly. He shoved Seamus roughly, causing him to step backwards if he didn't want to trip. "What do you think I'm gonna do, Finnigan?"

"Stop it man." Seamus growled as Draco pushed him once again.

"I'm not done with you."

Draco pushed him again, and Seamus had it. He ran at Draco, trying to knock him off his feet, but instead, the Slytherin got hold of him in a headlock, holding him down.

"Yeahhhhh!" came a shout from the crowd.

Hermione was still trying to get through, but the students in front of her formed a thick barrier.

"Stop it!" she yelled, but nobody heard her. "Seamus!"

Both of them were struggling now, and Seamus rammed his elbow into Draco's stomach. He loosened his grips for a fraction of second, but that was enough for Seamus to free himself and to lunge himself at his opponent. With a calculated blow of his right fist, he hit Draco square on the jaw.

The crowd was getting more and more excited, their screams were getting louder. Hermione looked around desperately, wondering when a teacher would appear to break this fight up.

Draco seemed unaffected by the blow and responded with two of his own. Seamus' nose started bleeding, and he tried hitting Draco again. Draco avoided his fist easily and grabbed Seamus' arm in midair, twisting it painfully.

"How do you like this?" he huffed, his eyes blazing angrily. Seamus was struggling against his firm grip, twisting and kicking. He managed to get his foot behind Draco's ankle and pushed back; both of them fell to the ground.

Seamus was desperately trying to hold Draco down, but instead, they started rolling on the cold marble floor. It was evident that Draco was stronger, but Seamus was not about to give up.

Draco finally managed to get a hold of Seamus and to pin him to the floor. He started punching him in the face, his rage building. He stopped realising what he was doing, didn't notice the screams of the crowd get louder. All he could see was Hermione's face, her tear-filled eyes and her bloodied sleeve. The way she bit her lips when she didn't want to admit that something was wrong…

Arms were tugging at his shoulders, trying to get him off his opponent. Seamus had stopped struggling, he had lifted his hands up to his face, trying to take some strength from the painful blows to his face. He knew he deserved them, at the same time as he simply could not understand what any of it had to do with Malfoy.

"That's enough" somebody said. Draco was finding it hard to focus on anything, the light was suddenly too bright, the crowd too loud. He looked up, and there she was.

Hermione had finally managed to get through to the two fighters and was now simply standing there, looking at Draco. He looked up, but couldn't seem to understand the emotion reflected in her eyes.

Hermione looked right back at him, but his grey eyes were wild with anger and confusion. His lip was bleeding, but he didn't seem to care. Slowly, she looked away from him. Seamus was still on the ground, covering his face with his arms. She went over to him and knelt down.

Draco snorted in disgust, and despite the fact that she so badly wanted to ignore him, she looked back at him. He sneered at her, but his expression dissolved into one of vulnerability that only she could see. He stood up in a swift movement and left.

As much as he hated to admit it, he hated her for her compassion. She had gone to take care of the one person who had hurt her more than just once, without hesitation. And he wasn't satisfied. For a brief moment, he had lost control over himself, and all he could think of was to break Seamus completely.

Behind him, the sounds of the crowd were dying. He looked down at his hands. His knuckles were bleeding, and he examined the red liquid with mild interest.

In the meantime, Hermione was ordering two of Seamus' friends to bring him to the infirmary. She was pretty sure that he had passed out. The thought of staying with him didn't even occur to her; there was no way she was going to wait until he was well again.

Hermione really didn't need any of this _drama_. Her life was supposed to be simpler than that. Sure, she was constantly helping Harry on his strange adventures, but it wasn't the same thing at all. Compared to this, she would say she actually enjoyed those ventures.

Hermione decided that she had had to endure enough for the day. Unable to face anyone, she instinctively went up to the astronomy tower, a place where she knew she could be alone. Once there, she sat down against the wall and closed her eyes. The cold stone felt good against her heated skin, and she was able to settle down. Her breathing evened out, and she opened her eyes.

Slowly, she pulled her right sleeve up and uncovered her forearm. All that was left from the wound was a thin, pink line. She stared at it for endless minutes, and feelings of disgust and anger rose to the surface.

'_Why?'_ she wondered. _'Why me?'_

Hermione desperately tried to regain her composure, but tears started running down her face. Her shoulders were shaking, but she did nothing to stop them. She was alone, and nobody could see her.

The young girl eventually fell asleep.

When she awoke, the sun was setting. Hermione stretched, then groaned. Her neck and back were stiff, and the cold had crept up her legs; she shivered.

"Finally awake, I see" came a voice from her left.

Hermione flinched and turned her head. Malfoy was standing, leaning against the railing of the astronomy tower, looking at the sunset. The red and orange light reflected on his face, his fine profile cut out clearly against the rising darkness.

Hermione didn't answer, and he looked at her briefly.

"I'll go" he said quietly, and turned to leave. He had almost reached the steps Hermione finally spoke.

"Wait."

Draco stopped and waited.

"Why did you do that?" Hermione whispered. She could see him clench his fists before he slowly turned.

"I don't know what you mean" he said icily, but then shook his head. "I don't know. I had to. I couldn't just… do nothing."

"I told you it's none of your business" Hermione replied weakly. At the same time though, she was almost glad he had done it.

Draco ran a hand over his face. He sighed and went to sit next to her. There was still plenty of space between them, but neither of them minded.

"Come on" Draco grinned. "It was good."

Hermione couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, maybe. Just a little."

She looked up, and he was looking at her smugly. Her eyes wandered down to the floor, and she noticed the bruises on his knuckles. Without thinking, she reached for his right hand and looked at it. Her hand seemed so small and delicate in his. She laughed.

"I don't see what's so funny about this" he said, almost defensively.

"I just think it kind of serves you right" she grinned, and he shook his head.

"Next time I won't then, you'll see."

"I never asked you to."

Draco didn't reply. Hermione had started tracing the outlines of his hand, so softly that he barely felt it. Then she dropped his hand, and it hit the floor quite painfully.

"Seriously, Granger" he muttered, annoyed.

When he looked up, he realised that she wasn't even looking at him.

"What are you thinking?" he asked after a moment of silence.

She bit her lip, just like he had remembered it earlier, and remained silent.

Draco simply looked at her, for a long moment. He hated seeing her like this. And then, without warning, he leaned down towards her. And he kissed her. Slowly but passionately, softly but with such intensity that she could hardly breathe.

"I'm so sorry" he whispered against her lips, then lifted his hand to her face and pulled her close again. He kissed her with everything he could give, like he had never kissed anyone before, and feeling her respond felt so _right_. Her lips were salty from her tears but her skin was so soft. Draco was taking it all in.

At first, Hermione hesitated. Surely, this was not happening. But the feeling of his lips on hers was real, as was the way he was gently leaning into her. He was moving closer, and she turned towards him, putting her arms around his neck.

Hermione lost herself in his embrace, and it felt like nothing she had ever experienced before. It was as if Seamus had never existed, as if she had just been waiting for this one moment. At the same time, it hurt to know that this kiss was born out of her own desperation, and that it wouldn't last. So many emotions were coursing through her in those painfully short seconds that seemed to last an eternity.

When he pulled away, her cheeks were burning and she didn't dare look at him. Instead, she let go of him and looked down at her hands.

She was so confused. Why? Why had he done that? Malfoy. Why? He hated her. Draco. All she could see was his face. Why? She stopped hating him a long time ago. When?

She looked at him, her eyes burning into his. There might have been tears, he couldn't tell. But there shouldn't be, should there. Not when she was with him anyway.

He didn't want her to hurt, wanted to keep all the pain away from her. Wanted to be there for her. He would destroy anyone who would try to harm her. He lifted her hand up to his hand and kissed it.

He could not explain what he was feeling.

"Why?" she finally managed. "Tell me why." Her voice broke. He didn't know what to say.

"Come here" he whispered, and kissed her again. He didn't mind the sudden closeness, on the contrary. It felt like a relief to finally be able to do this. All those weeks he hadn't been able to figure out what was missing. This was it.

* * *

**I'm thinking this could actually be the last chapter..I got to where I wanted to :)  
**

**Yeah. **

**Unless I find something I can add. Though there's probably loads.**

**But in any case. Thanks for reading :)  
**


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